|
The Principals
The day-to-day operations of the GreenEarth
Cleaning Company are governed by three individuals who have
broad experience in the field of drycleaning. Information
about each of them follows.
Jim
Barry
Jim Barry is a graduate of the University of Missouri.
Following graduation, he entered the United States Navy, where he attended
Aviation Officer Candidate School.
After leaving the Navy, Jim began his civilian career at Crown
Zellerbach in the Coarse Paper Distribution Division in Houston.
Six months later, he purchased a small paper distribution business
in the Houston area. The business grew rapidly over a seven-year
period and became one of the largest distribution companies in the
industry. He sold the business in 1980 and spent two years as a
consultant to other distribution companies.
In 1982, he acquired ten drycleaning stores and founded Pride Cleaners
in the Kansas City area. Pride Cleaners grew to 50 locations within
five years. In 1987 the company was recognized by Inc. Magazine
on the "Inc. 500 America's Fastest Growing Private Companies."
|
|
In 1987, Pride Cleaners was sold to Johnson
Group Cleaners PLC, the largest drycleaning company in the
United Kingdom. Jim stayed with the company in the capacity
of President of Pride Cleaners and was appointed to the
Board of Directors for the parent company in the U.K. in
1991. In 1994, he was named the President and Chief Executive
Officer of the Johnson Group's U.S. operations, which encompassed
approximately 360 company-owned stores and 175 franchise
locations. In early 1999, the Johnson Group's U.S. operations
were sold to Delia's Cleaners and Jim assumed the role of
Chairman of the new entity, which encompassed 380 locations.
Jim retired from Delia's Cleaners in 2001 so that he could
devote more time to GreenEarth Cleaning.
Jim is currently a member of the Board of Directors
for Union Bank in Kansas City. He has also served on the
Boards of Mark Twain Bancshares, Mercantile Bank, Cadcam
Engineering, and the Salvation Army. Jim and his wife, Barbara,
have three adult children and three grandchildren.
Back to top
Ron
Benjamin
Ron Benjamin began his career as an entrepreneur in 1971. Since
that time, he has started or purchased seven different businesses in the
Midwest. These businesses have been wide-ranging, including blood plasma
recycling, drycleaning, electronic banking, franchised yogurt shops, retail
drug stores, and potato repackaging.
Ron and a partner started a current holding, Resource & Development
Group, in 1985. R&D provides direct marketing and fundraising services
to large national nonprofit and commercial organizations. It is one of
the Salvation Army's largest mailers in the country and does all of the
response mailings for Applebee's Restaurants both in the United States
and internationally.
|
Ron serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Midwest
Bioethics Center, is a member of the Board of Trustees of Bucknell
University, and has served on the boards of numerous community nonprofit
organizations in the Kansas City area. He was a founding director
of the Blue Valley Recreation Commission, the Blue Valley School's
Education Foundation, and the City of Leawood Foundation.
Ron received his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering
from Bucknell University in 1967 and an MBA from the Harvard Business
School in 1969. He received a full athletic scholarship to attend
Bucknell and a full two-year fellowship to attend Harvard. He paid
for all his education through these awards and by working summers
and during the academic years for his room and board.
|
Ron and his wife, Pat, have three children and
one granddaughter.
Back to top
Jim
Douglas
Jim Douglas began his drycleaning career with
Swanson's Cleaners located in Sacramento, California, in
1969. He was co-owner and served as president of the company
from 1988 to 1998.
Swanson's was the largest drycleaning plant
in the United States, serving as many as 115 locations from
a single central plant of 115,000 square feet. It was primarily
a Stoddard solvent plant until the underground tanks were
removed in 1990. In anticipation of the removal of the Stoddard
solvent, Jim worked and processed with all available alternative
solvents and cleaning methods, including DuPont's Valclene
and Dow Chemical's Dow LS. In addition, the central plant
was the test site plant for Exxon's DF-2000.
|
Jim, a graduate of Northern Arizona University,
is licensed by the State of California to teach and
certify drycleaners for California's mandatory certification
program (ATCM). He has also been a member of the California
Air Resources Board's Task Force and served as the
Chairperson for the Legislative Environmental Committee
for the California Cleaners Association. He has been
certified by the International Fabricare Institute
as a CPD and CED. Jim recently served as a DCM for
International Fabricare Institute for California and
Hawaii. Jim has also been involved in testing Dow Chemical's
TVS (Temporary Vapor Storage) System from the prototype
beta level to the OEM version. In addition, he has
worked with the Tokyo-based YAC Corporation in the
development of the usage of ozoniated water as an
alternative cleaning method for drycleaning.
|
Jim's plant, Prestige Cleaners, located in Sacramento,
has served as the alpha and beta test site for the GreenEarth
Cleaning process. Jim is the Technical Director and serves
as Vice President and Chief Officer of Intellectual Properties
for GreenEarth Cleaning. GreenEarth Cleaning is partnered
with General Electric and Procter & Gamble to bring silicone
cleaning to the drycleaning industry.
Jim and his wife, Jane, have four adult daughters
and four grandchildren.
Back to top
|
|
|
|
