Tomorrow the IWCA opens it's doors in Reno for another convention. If you want to play to win, put your money on the International Window Cleaning Association. This year, the IWCA Annual Convention is headed back to Reno, NV and when the stakes are high, Reno is where YOU and your products or services need to be! The last time the IWCA convention was held in Reno, it was one of the highest attended events we’ve had in the past 20 years!. And, this year should be no exception. Window cleaners from across the nation are already generating a lot of excitement for this event and they will be looking for you while they are there, Jan. 27– 30 for the 2010 IWCA Annual Convention &Trade Show.
Window Cleaning at Height Weather Monitoring: Many high-rise buildings monitor local meteorological conditions as an aid to determine whether conditions are safe to use cradles while cleaning windows and other working at height applications. To help provide accurate local weather information, Health and Safety managers from a prestigious company in Canary Wharf have recently invested in and installed two automatic weather stations at two different roof levels. Prior to installing the weather stations, the decision on whether or not to use external cradles relied solely on hand held Anemometers which did not provide sufficiently accurate results. Readings tended to rely too much on where the reading was taken from which did not take into consideration how weather circulated around the building. The hand-held equipment also only took a snapshot recording of the moment it was used and did not take into consideration actual weather patterns or trends.
Small-businessman John Browne says a near-fatal bout with cancer five years ago was probably the best thing that could have happened to him. During months of chemotherapy following successful surgery to remove aggressive cancer that threatened his liver, Browne researched his dream of starting his own business. Now, Prestige Unlimited Services, a full-service residential and commercial cleaning service that Browne operates from his home, employs half a dozen people. He doesn't disclose sales but says his business has more than doubled every year. Last year Prestige was recognized by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber as one of its "10 under 10" small businesses. All the honorees were less than 10 years old and employed fewer than 10 workers. "I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I am thankful to have had cancer, and also thankful to have been cured," says Browne, 41, a native of Colerain Township.
Browne was 10 years into a high-pressure middle-management job in facilities management at AK Steel in Middletown when he was stunned to learn he had cancer. Diagnosed with testicular cancer during a routine examination, his physician was so concerned about the disease's spread that he scheduled surgery that night. Because of his background in facilities maintenance, Browne looked at options including a cleaning franchise, but rejected it. "I wanted to say I legitimately built the business on my own, and wasn't living off somebody else's idea," he says. Starting with one carpet cleaning machine in 2004 after leaving AK Steel, Browne began marketing his cleaning business by word of mouth to friends and family. The company's motto is: "If you dirty it, we clean it."
A military veteran, Browne says, "One thing you learn in the Navy is how to strip and wax floors." So Prestige began adding commercial as well as residential accounts. Browne added air duct and chimney cleaning, window cleaning, tile and grout cleaning and emergency water removal. Costs vary depending on the square footage and service involved; residential carpet cleaning starts at $150. Early on Browne joined the regional chamber, which led to membership on the CEO Roundtable, an informal forum where executives can share and critique ideas. Prestige is one of the smallest companies in the CEO Roundtable. "I'm the CEO and janitor at my company and everything in between," Browne says. He adds that the insights and friendships he's developed in the monthly meetings have been invaluable. The janitorial business is crowded with large national chains and fly-by-night operators, but Browne says the business boils down to delivering on commitments. "We have to deliver a clean product. If we don't, we won't eat tomorrow," he says. Browne says he wants to continue to grow Prestige Unlimited, but doesn't have a complex business plan. "I just try to use common sense," he says.
ROCKFORD — When city leaders huddle Saturday for a marathon budget session at City Hall, the topic of outsourcing — the practice of hiring private businesses to provide city services at a lower cost — is expected to dominate the conversation. The city outsources work in nearly 30 categories from snowplowing and garbage collection to information technology and window washing. In some cases, entire services are contracted out. In others, it’s a portion of the work.
Mum's shock over thieves at cemetery: A grieving mum has slammed thieves who stole flowers from her son's grave as "sick". Elaine Clark was left horrified when she visited Harton Cemetery in South Shields to find a floral tribute left for her son Graham had disappeared. It had been placed at the grave by his older brother Christopher, 26, over Christmas. Mr Clark died on June 4, 2008, days after accidentally falling from a ladder as he was window cleaning in the Laygate area of South Shields. For almost a week the 21-year-old devoted father-of-two from Tyne Dock fought for life in hospital, but his family eventually had to make the painful decision to switch off his life support machine, after he failed to respond to medical tests. This is the third time since Mr Clark was laid to rest that his grave has been hit by thieves who have stolen tributes left in his memory.
The weather has been brutal, an endless stretch of days with temperatures in the teens. But this day couldn't be better with sunshine and a thermometer's red dot reaching 38. A father's passion hooked a son. Kevin Kram is a third-generation window cleaner specializing in high-rise buildings like Bausch & Lomb. It is stressful work. Dangerous. That makes the cost of fly fishing tackle, like the fine $1,350 Sage rod and reel combo in his hands, affordable therapy. Fishing has been his window into nature. Thanks to great form honed over many years, the 5-foot 2½-inch Kram is a giant among fly rodders, able to apply the muscle memory training he used as a champion skeet shooter at RIT into each cast.
A security worker in downtown Minneapolis, Bullard has been an active member of SEIU Local 26 for six years, president of the local’s Black caucus for two years, and a member of the Local 26 executive board for five years. The union represents over 5,000 janitors, security officers and window cleaners in the Twin Cities; Bullard believes over two-thirds of these workers are Black. “We also just picked up laundry workers,” he adds. Janitors' union sets strike authorization vote: SEIU Local 26 — Minnesota’s Property Services Union, which represents security officers and window cleaners in addition to janitors — had arranged for two additional weeks of negotiations at the end of last year, pushing the final deadline for a new contract to Jan. 8. That deadline came and went, with both sides no closer to an agreement.
Local small business owner and former County Commission candidate Don Marsh has filed to run for mayor of Gainesville. Marsh, who was not available for an interview on Thursday or Friday, was a Republican candidate for County Commission in 2002. He gained 34 percent of the votes cast in a race won by Cynthia Chestnut. In that election, Marsh took aim at the county's Comprehensive Plan, saying it hindered development and was restrictive on property owners. Marsh also runs the Web site http://alachuavoterguide.com, which tracks local elections and the political landscape and allows candidates a firsthand forum to voice opinions on the issues. In a message posted on his Web site, Marsh stated that he has wavered on whether or not to run since last fall, when he said he would not seek the office of mayor. He said those who might think he is the Brett Favre of local politics - a reference to the National Football League quarterback who has retired and returned to play multiple times - should remember how well Favre is doing now. Favre led the Minnesota Vikings into the National Football Conference championship game on Sunday. Marsh also indicated on his Web site that he supports another Wal-Mart Supercenter in Gainesville and opposes a new GRU biomass powerplant due to his skepticism of the science behind global warming. Marsh is a longtime local small business owner. He owns and operates Marsh Window Cleaning.
OAP says cheques should not be phased out: An avenues pensioner who says the phasing out of cheques will disproportionately hit the elderly and the handicapped, is urging people to join her and petition East Devon MP Hugo Swire and the treasury. Yvonne Wardrop, of Douglas Avenue, says she can fully 'understand the economic argument' for stopping the use of cheques as payment. But she added, like the closing of smaller Post offices, it was yet another example of banks, institutions, businesses and the Government failing to consider the knock-on effects of policy decisions. She said: "They affect the elderly and the handicapped. This section of society is dependent upon people coming to their homes to provide service or to deliver at the door and the choice of payment is either cash or cheque. "I am thinking of the home cleaner, the gardener and the window cleaner. All of who are usually small business people."She said there were already problems for the housebound in getting cash to pay for services while some elderly or vulnerable people do not like keeping cash in their homes. She added: "The drive towards a total cash-less society using electronic money transfers excludes a substantial and vulnerable section of society.
Cleaning the gutters and windows can be a tricky and dangerous task best left to professionals. However, clearing debris from gutters is mandatory to prevent water from leaking onto the roof and into one's home, causing major damage to walls and ceilings or rotting the roof and eaves. Randy Mills owns and operates Pioneer Services in Sunnyvale and offers professional window, gutter and skylight cleaning to homeowners in Silicon Valley. Mills suggests cleaning the gutters once a year if trees or other greenery are present near one's house. Citing that approximately half a million homeowners are hurt on ladders each year, Mills advises using a ladder stand-off to lean the ladder against the roof without touching the gutters or creating a precarious situation where the ladder can slide off. Two smart investments are screens to place in the gutter downspouts to prevent them from clogging, Mills said, and gutter covers, which go over the top of or inside gutters to prevent leaves from falling in them. "If homeowners determine they want gutter covers, they need to make sure they get the right cover for the job," he said. "A professional should determine the gutter cover type a home requires." An expert at double-pane window cleaning and repair, Mills said a leading mistake homeowners make with windows is failing to paint and caulk them properly, reducing the windows' ability to properly insulate. Mills suggests inspecting windows, doors with windows, and window and door screens each year, looking for holes in the screen and rotting or poor caulking. While cleaning windows is not a necessity but more of a luxury, he said, it does add to the appearance of one's home.
Government data on where our money goes? The founder of the web, Tim Berners-Lee, is today unveiling a new website, data.gov.uk, which promises to get more public sector data into the public domain. For Boris Johnson the transparency has brought some problems - one of his Deputy Mayors had to resign over expenses claims. Last week it was queried why City Hall spends £13,314.11 in a single month on window cleaning.
FORTUNA - Reaching for Independence, a locally operated, customized employment service for adults with developmental disabilities, has launched a new errand service called Errands Unlimited. This service provides “time-challenged” individuals and businesses with services such as pickup or delivery of packages, documents, groceries, gifts, prescriptions, medical supplies, floral arrangements, animal medicines and supplies, movie and video game rentals and more for a nominal fee. Additional work services provided by Reaching for Independence include power washing, commercial vehicle and window washing.
Don't give up the day job - how artists make a living: Right now, the economic climate for artists in this country looks particularly bleak. There's the innate financial instability of most artistic careers (low earnings, and sometimes none at all; little job security; no pension or other benefits), together with the recession. Then there's the fact that – unlike some European and Scandinavian countries – the British government makes no specific social provision for artists, unless through the publicly funded regional arts councils. But in this country, for artists without a lucky early break, rich parents or benefactors, a day job is often the only way to survive. It needn't mean that fame and fortune aren't just around the corner. Van Morrison immortalised his old job as a window cleaner in the 1982 song Cleaning Windows.
Spirit of 1970 can bring Iron cup glory: Don Welbourne, now 60, was part of the Iron team that dumped First Division Sheffield Wednesday out of the competition at Hillsborough, in January 1970. A young, Fourth Division United side upset the odds that day to record a 2-1 win over their top flight opponents. Welbourne, who now earns a living as a window cleaner, was just 20 years old when he played at Hillsborough in what was the big shock of round four, 40 years ago. "Nobody really expected us to go there and win," Welbourne confessed.
Australian Open 2010: Hewitt was never a contender here, however much that pains a home nation still looking for the first men's singles champion since Mark Edmondson, who was then a part-time window cleaner, put down his bucket and sponge and won the 1976 tournament.
Window Cleaning at Height Weather Monitoring: Many high-rise buildings monitor local meteorological conditions as an aid to determine whether conditions are safe to use cradles while cleaning windows and other working at height applications. To help provide accurate local weather information, Health and Safety managers from a prestigious company in Canary Wharf have recently invested in and installed two automatic weather stations at two different roof levels. Prior to installing the weather stations, the decision on whether or not to use external cradles relied solely on hand held Anemometers which did not provide sufficiently accurate results. Readings tended to rely too much on where the reading was taken from which did not take into consideration how weather circulated around the building. The hand-held equipment also only took a snapshot recording of the moment it was used and did not take into consideration actual weather patterns or trends.
Small-businessman John Browne says a near-fatal bout with cancer five years ago was probably the best thing that could have happened to him. During months of chemotherapy following successful surgery to remove aggressive cancer that threatened his liver, Browne researched his dream of starting his own business. Now, Prestige Unlimited Services, a full-service residential and commercial cleaning service that Browne operates from his home, employs half a dozen people. He doesn't disclose sales but says his business has more than doubled every year. Last year Prestige was recognized by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber as one of its "10 under 10" small businesses. All the honorees were less than 10 years old and employed fewer than 10 workers. "I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I am thankful to have had cancer, and also thankful to have been cured," says Browne, 41, a native of Colerain Township.Browne was 10 years into a high-pressure middle-management job in facilities management at AK Steel in Middletown when he was stunned to learn he had cancer. Diagnosed with testicular cancer during a routine examination, his physician was so concerned about the disease's spread that he scheduled surgery that night. Because of his background in facilities maintenance, Browne looked at options including a cleaning franchise, but rejected it. "I wanted to say I legitimately built the business on my own, and wasn't living off somebody else's idea," he says. Starting with one carpet cleaning machine in 2004 after leaving AK Steel, Browne began marketing his cleaning business by word of mouth to friends and family. The company's motto is: "If you dirty it, we clean it."
A military veteran, Browne says, "One thing you learn in the Navy is how to strip and wax floors." So Prestige began adding commercial as well as residential accounts. Browne added air duct and chimney cleaning, window cleaning, tile and grout cleaning and emergency water removal. Costs vary depending on the square footage and service involved; residential carpet cleaning starts at $150. Early on Browne joined the regional chamber, which led to membership on the CEO Roundtable, an informal forum where executives can share and critique ideas. Prestige is one of the smallest companies in the CEO Roundtable. "I'm the CEO and janitor at my company and everything in between," Browne says. He adds that the insights and friendships he's developed in the monthly meetings have been invaluable. The janitorial business is crowded with large national chains and fly-by-night operators, but Browne says the business boils down to delivering on commitments. "We have to deliver a clean product. If we don't, we won't eat tomorrow," he says. Browne says he wants to continue to grow Prestige Unlimited, but doesn't have a complex business plan. "I just try to use common sense," he says.
ROCKFORD — When city leaders huddle Saturday for a marathon budget session at City Hall, the topic of outsourcing — the practice of hiring private businesses to provide city services at a lower cost — is expected to dominate the conversation. The city outsources work in nearly 30 categories from snowplowing and garbage collection to information technology and window washing. In some cases, entire services are contracted out. In others, it’s a portion of the work.
Mum's shock over thieves at cemetery: A grieving mum has slammed thieves who stole flowers from her son's grave as "sick". Elaine Clark was left horrified when she visited Harton Cemetery in South Shields to find a floral tribute left for her son Graham had disappeared. It had been placed at the grave by his older brother Christopher, 26, over Christmas. Mr Clark died on June 4, 2008, days after accidentally falling from a ladder as he was window cleaning in the Laygate area of South Shields. For almost a week the 21-year-old devoted father-of-two from Tyne Dock fought for life in hospital, but his family eventually had to make the painful decision to switch off his life support machine, after he failed to respond to medical tests. This is the third time since Mr Clark was laid to rest that his grave has been hit by thieves who have stolen tributes left in his memory.The weather has been brutal, an endless stretch of days with temperatures in the teens. But this day couldn't be better with sunshine and a thermometer's red dot reaching 38. A father's passion hooked a son. Kevin Kram is a third-generation window cleaner specializing in high-rise buildings like Bausch & Lomb. It is stressful work. Dangerous. That makes the cost of fly fishing tackle, like the fine $1,350 Sage rod and reel combo in his hands, affordable therapy. Fishing has been his window into nature. Thanks to great form honed over many years, the 5-foot 2½-inch Kram is a giant among fly rodders, able to apply the muscle memory training he used as a champion skeet shooter at RIT into each cast.
A security worker in downtown Minneapolis, Bullard has been an active member of SEIU Local 26 for six years, president of the local’s Black caucus for two years, and a member of the Local 26 executive board for five years. The union represents over 5,000 janitors, security officers and window cleaners in the Twin Cities; Bullard believes over two-thirds of these workers are Black. “We also just picked up laundry workers,” he adds. Janitors' union sets strike authorization vote: SEIU Local 26 — Minnesota’s Property Services Union, which represents security officers and window cleaners in addition to janitors — had arranged for two additional weeks of negotiations at the end of last year, pushing the final deadline for a new contract to Jan. 8. That deadline came and went, with both sides no closer to an agreement.Local small business owner and former County Commission candidate Don Marsh has filed to run for mayor of Gainesville. Marsh, who was not available for an interview on Thursday or Friday, was a Republican candidate for County Commission in 2002. He gained 34 percent of the votes cast in a race won by Cynthia Chestnut. In that election, Marsh took aim at the county's Comprehensive Plan, saying it hindered development and was restrictive on property owners. Marsh also runs the Web site http://alachuavoterguide.com, which tracks local elections and the political landscape and allows candidates a firsthand forum to voice opinions on the issues. In a message posted on his Web site, Marsh stated that he has wavered on whether or not to run since last fall, when he said he would not seek the office of mayor. He said those who might think he is the Brett Favre of local politics - a reference to the National Football League quarterback who has retired and returned to play multiple times - should remember how well Favre is doing now. Favre led the Minnesota Vikings into the National Football Conference championship game on Sunday. Marsh also indicated on his Web site that he supports another Wal-Mart Supercenter in Gainesville and opposes a new GRU biomass powerplant due to his skepticism of the science behind global warming. Marsh is a longtime local small business owner. He owns and operates Marsh Window Cleaning.OAP says cheques should not be phased out: An avenues pensioner who says the phasing out of cheques will disproportionately hit the elderly and the handicapped, is urging people to join her and petition East Devon MP Hugo Swire and the treasury. Yvonne Wardrop, of Douglas Avenue, says she can fully 'understand the economic argument' for stopping the use of cheques as payment. But she added, like the closing of smaller Post offices, it was yet another example of banks, institutions, businesses and the Government failing to consider the knock-on effects of policy decisions. She said: "They affect the elderly and the handicapped. This section of society is dependent upon people coming to their homes to provide service or to deliver at the door and the choice of payment is either cash or cheque. "I am thinking of the home cleaner, the gardener and the window cleaner. All of who are usually small business people."She said there were already problems for the housebound in getting cash to pay for services while some elderly or vulnerable people do not like keeping cash in their homes. She added: "The drive towards a total cash-less society using electronic money transfers excludes a substantial and vulnerable section of society.Cleaning the gutters and windows can be a tricky and dangerous task best left to professionals. However, clearing debris from gutters is mandatory to prevent water from leaking onto the roof and into one's home, causing major damage to walls and ceilings or rotting the roof and eaves. Randy Mills owns and operates Pioneer Services in Sunnyvale and offers professional window, gutter and skylight cleaning to homeowners in Silicon Valley. Mills suggests cleaning the gutters once a year if trees or other greenery are present near one's house. Citing that approximately half a million homeowners are hurt on ladders each year, Mills advises using a ladder stand-off to lean the ladder against the roof without touching the gutters or creating a precarious situation where the ladder can slide off. Two smart investments are screens to place in the gutter downspouts to prevent them from clogging, Mills said, and gutter covers, which go over the top of or inside gutters to prevent leaves from falling in them. "If homeowners determine they want gutter covers, they need to make sure they get the right cover for the job," he said. "A professional should determine the gutter cover type a home requires." An expert at double-pane window cleaning and repair, Mills said a leading mistake homeowners make with windows is failing to paint and caulk them properly, reducing the windows' ability to properly insulate. Mills suggests inspecting windows, doors with windows, and window and door screens each year, looking for holes in the screen and rotting or poor caulking. While cleaning windows is not a necessity but more of a luxury, he said, it does add to the appearance of one's home.Government data on where our money goes? The founder of the web, Tim Berners-Lee, is today unveiling a new website, data.gov.uk, which promises to get more public sector data into the public domain. For Boris Johnson the transparency has brought some problems - one of his Deputy Mayors had to resign over expenses claims. Last week it was queried why City Hall spends £13,314.11 in a single month on window cleaning.FORTUNA - Reaching for Independence, a locally operated, customized employment service for adults with developmental disabilities, has launched a new errand service called Errands Unlimited. This service provides “time-challenged” individuals and businesses with services such as pickup or delivery of packages, documents, groceries, gifts, prescriptions, medical supplies, floral arrangements, animal medicines and supplies, movie and video game rentals and more for a nominal fee. Additional work services provided by Reaching for Independence include power washing, commercial vehicle and window washing.Don't give up the day job - how artists make a living: Right now, the economic climate for artists in this country looks particularly bleak. There's the innate financial instability of most artistic careers (low earnings, and sometimes none at all; little job security; no pension or other benefits), together with the recession. Then there's the fact that – unlike some European and Scandinavian countries – the British government makes no specific social provision for artists, unless through the publicly funded regional arts councils. But in this country, for artists without a lucky early break, rich parents or benefactors, a day job is often the only way to survive. It needn't mean that fame and fortune aren't just around the corner. Van Morrison immortalised his old job as a window cleaner in the 1982 song Cleaning Windows.Spirit of 1970 can bring Iron cup glory: Don Welbourne, now 60, was part of the Iron team that dumped First Division Sheffield Wednesday out of the competition at Hillsborough, in January 1970. A young, Fourth Division United side upset the odds that day to record a 2-1 win over their top flight opponents. Welbourne, who now earns a living as a window cleaner, was just 20 years old when he played at Hillsborough in what was the big shock of round four, 40 years ago. "Nobody really expected us to go there and win," Welbourne confessed.Australian Open 2010: Hewitt was never a contender here, however much that pains a home nation still looking for the first men's singles champion since Mark Edmondson, who was then a part-time window cleaner, put down his bucket and sponge and won the 1976 tournament.
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It is best to stay on the problem before it becomes too late. But if it is time for an air duct replacement, don't hesitate any longer. The cost you can quickly make up for in a more efficient energy system and future awareness that will prevent serious problems before they occur.
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