NEW ORLEANS — The American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA) held its fifth Breakfast at Clean here at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center June 21.
The association says the event provides members and nonmembers the opportunity to enjoy a hot meal and socialize before attending the Clean Show and its offerings.
This year’s event also featured several awards, including the presentation of the Nate Belkin Award for Excellence in Marketing Reusable Textiles. ARTA says this award is presented biennially to the ARTA member company or member that best exemplifies ARTA’s mission. Nate Belkin, Ph.D., founded ARTA in 1982 while working for Fashion Seal Healthcare. He died in 2010.
ARTA President Brendan O’Neill presented the awards, as follows:
2019 Nate Belkin Award—ARTA says Greg Gurtler and Gurtler Industries have provided steady leadership for ARTA as president of ARTA from 2003 to 2005, and as a director for several terms.
It was under the presidency of Greg Gurtler that ARTA says it first brought in operator members, which expanded ARTA membership. In addition, Gurtler has generously supported ARTA by allowing staff, such as Steve Tinker and Kevin McLaren, to serve on the ARTA board and support ARTA initiatives.
Gurtler Industries is a family-owned chemical manufacturer based in South Holland, Ill. Greg Gurtler is the second generation providing leadership for the company.
VIP Award—The association says Kevin McLaren, a chemist for Gurtler Industries, has played a key role in overseeing the ARTA C. diff study for the past two years.
ARTA Service Award—ARTA presented this award to Myles Noel for his past service as a director for the association from 2012 to 2018.
Noel is the CEO of COMTEX (Central Ohio Medical Textile) located in Columbus, Ohio. COMTEX currently serves 34 hospitals and more than 325 ancillary sites by processing 40-plus million pounds of healthcare linen annually.
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