by Brianna Crandall — September 28, 2015—Simon Institute, a private nonprofit group consisting of cleaning industry end users, held the Simon Institute Symposium in August to bring together, educate, and recognize their peers from all over the country. Each year, the symposium hosts the Cleaning Industry Awards Banquet to honor outstanding cleaning organizations and individuals who uphold the values of Simon Institute and high-performance cleaning.
This year, 11 organizations were recognized in 13 categories ranging from Best Cleaning Program to Safety and Health. Many award-winners’ facilities were also honored as Green Programs of Merit with audit scores of 80 to 89 percent, or Green Programs of Excellence with audit scores of 90 percent and better.
“Cleaning professionals are guardians of the public health. Their work is crucial but frequently goes uncelebrated,” said ProTeam Vice President of Sales Rich Steinberg, who attended the award ceremony. “That’s why events like the Cleaning Industry Awards Banquet are so important. We commend the Simon Institute for creating this event to recognize the incredible intelligence, discipline, and innovation in the cleaning industry.”
The 2015 Cleaning Industry Awards winners are:
- Best Cleaning Program 2015: The University of Texas at Austin
- Best Workloading 2015: The University of Texas at Austin
- Peer Influence 2015: University of Michigan
- Communication 2015: Mt. San Antonio College
- Safety and Health 2015: Michigan State University
- Rookie of the Year 2015: (name not given) of University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- Trainer of the Year 2015: Jeff Hawkins of Provo City School District
- Best Cleaning Quality Improvement 2015: GMI Integrated Facility Solutions
- Innovation 2015: PortionPac Corporation
- Best (OS1) Audit 2015: Sandia National Laboratories
- Best Training Program 2015: Sandia National Laboratories
- Pinnacle Award 2015: Dominic Bratta and Thomas Duchesne of the U.S. Postal Service Headquarters
The nonprofit Los Angeles Habilitation House received the most prestigious honor of the night along with the U.S. Postal Service — the Mark Reimers Cleaning for Health Award. According to Simon Institute, Mark Reimers was a beacon of passion and expertise in the cleaning industry for over four decades until his retirement in 2009. As a part of his work with ProTeam, the inventors of the lightweight backpack vacuum, he advocated for Cleaning for Health and educated the public about the importance of healthy indoor air in a partnership with the American Lung Association. Both facilities are said to embody Reimers’ dedication to excellence.
The two-day symposium also included presentations such as “Major Factors that Impact Facility Costs” with Dr. Jeff Campbell of Campbell Consulting, and “How Team Cleaning Responds to Customer Complaints” with Nancy Albin of Los Angeles Habilitation House.
