We are all feeling the stress of the current state of the world. Exhausted no matter what you do. Short tempered. Upset stomach. Even if COVID-19 hasn't directly hit your family, we are all adjusting to unprecedented changes in our home lives, social lives and communities.

ALM wants to help, so we replaced our regular April webinar with Self-Care: Soothing Strategies to Cope with Stress and Worry, to help us all learn how we are impacted by the current situation, recognize how it has altered our thoughts and actions, and explore techniques to manage the anxiety. This webinar is complimentary for everyone and will be Thursday, April 16, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET.

This session will be presented by Jennifer Degler, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, life coach, speaker, and author. After graduating from Transylvania University with degrees in Psychology and Business Administration, Jennifer received her Master’s and Doctorate Degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Kentucky. She counsels adults and couples at the Interfaith Counseling Center in Lexington, Kentucky, and specializes in treating anxiety and trauma.

Register Now!

Would you prefer to receive ALM news and publications at your home address? We can send Fresh Magazine and other ALM mail pieces directly to your home. To update your records:

1. Log into ALMnet.org
2. Click on "Edit Bio"
3. Enter your home address under "Personal/Home Contact Information"
4. Click on "Set as Preferred Contact"

This allows us to retain your company address in our records and continue to serve your membership while you work from home on a temporary or permanent basis. Please note, your home address will NOT be shown in your listing within the ALM member search.

If you missed the March 18 email, please note the new dates for IMPACT have been set for November 2-5, 2020. We are still holding it at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. If you already registered for the previous date, your registration has been moved to the new date. If you did not previously register, register now! 

ALM is uniting the textile care industry with reliable resources for COVID-19. Visit our COVID-19 page for links to textile-focused recommendations and more.

Interim Guidance for Healthcare Personnel Home Washing Personal Uniform/Scrub Apparel
Available research shows COVID-19 only lives on fabrics for a short period of time, but, out of an abundance of caution, ALM has chosen to compile instructions to best ensure the home wash process is effective for washing personal apparel after being in a setting possibly exposing the wearer to the virus.

Interim Guidance for Hotels Lodging Persons Potentially Exposed to COVID-19
To help hotel laundries that are not familiar with procedures for large quantities of possibly exposed textiles, ALM has compiled interim guidance to assist the industry, including a free training video about Universal Precautions.

Why the CDC Recommends Cloth Face Masks
Effective April 3, 2020, the CDC updated the recommendation about use of face masks for the general public, especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.

Your Questions Answered
Clips of the COVID-19 industry town hall held last month are available on our Vimeo site, which addressed questions we received about COVID-19 and textiles. If you have industry questions, please visit the ALM Member Forum.

ALM Annual Member Meeting and Online Member Voting
Reminder that the ALM Annual Member Meeting will be held virtually on Thursday, May 14. Connection details will be announced at a later date. Online member voting has been extended to Tuesday, May 12. You must be signed into ALM's website to vote.

Job Postings
Are you in need of more workers to fill the demands COVID-19 has brought on? Contact us with the job available, as well as the name, email, and phone number of the contact, and we will be happy to share the information on our social media channels and website, regardless of ALM membership status.

ALM Staff Working Remotely
To be a part of the solution rather than the problem, ALM staff have been working remotely since March 13. While the phones are forwarded, multiple calls received simultaneously may not roll as expected, so please feel free to email staff members as needed. Also, currently no FedEx or UPS shipments will be accepted at ALM offices, as there is no one there to receive them. If you must ship something to ALM, please use USPS.

Monarch Brands president, Hal Kanefsky, recently wrote an article regarding how laundry suppliers of microfiber and wiping products are dealing with increased demand and dwindling resources.

Brent Rasche has taken the position of Chief Operating Officer at Fibertech Inc. Prior to joining Fibertech, Rasche worked for SRG Global in various roles. SRG Global is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of injection molded chrome plated, painted plastic parts for automotive and non-automotive transportation.

“This role will allow me to focus my expertise in a new industry to broaden our strong team, to expand our product offerings and capabilities as a business.”-Brent Rasche.

Hygiene expert Christeyns expands its activities in the Life Science Division with the acquisition of Pliwa, German producer of disinfection products for hospitals and dental care. Although negotiated and signed before the COVID-19 crisis, the transaction will allow Christeyns to increase its production capacity of disinfectants for medical applications. As such the company hopes to provide even better support to the medical sector in these challenging times.

Colmac is pleased to announce Erik Parsley has joined the Colmac sales team as an applications engineer. Erik is a 2009 graduate of University of Idaho with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering.