Augustine Chang

Augustine Chang is the owner of Natures 

Best Cleaners in Petaluma, California. 

Mr. Chang has been involved in the dry 

cleaning industry for the past 25 years as 

an owner and operator. During that time, 

Mr. Chang has contributed his knowledge 

in the field through his involvement with 

the Korean Dry Cleaners Association of 

Northern California (KDANC). Through 

the years he has served as Secretary, 

President, and as a Board Member of 

the North Bay Chapter. Mr. Chang is the 

current President of the Professional 

Wetcleaners Association, which grants 

membership to wholly dedicated 

Professional Wetcleaners. For the past 

5 years, Mr. Chang has held several 

professional wet cleaning demonstration 

workshops in his establishment and has 

helped train other dry cleaners to convert 

to professional wet cleaning.

Marie D’Avignon

Marie D’Avignon, American Apparel & 

Footwear Association (AAFA) Manager 

of Government Relations, is the staff 

liaison for AAFA’s Labeling Committee 

helping AAFA members understand 

global regulatory requirements and 

explore innovative best practices. She 

also heads up AAFA’s Environmental 

Committee overseeing efforts toward 

supply chain sustainability, as well as 

managing a trade portfolio focusing on 

market access and reducing barriers to 

trade. Hailing originally from Tyler, TX, Ms. 

D’Avignon has a degree in International 

Politics from Trinity University in San 

Antonio, TX. Before joining AAFA in June 

of 2011, she worked on environmental 

infrastructure issues in the public affairs 

and government relations department of 

the North American Development Bank.

Richard Fitzpatrick

Richard Fitzpatrick is the Vice President of 

Kreussler Inc., the North American division 

of Kreussler GmbH. Kreussler is a family 

owned and operated, mid-sized chemical 

manufacturer located in Wiesbaden, 

Germany. Widely credited as the inventors 

of modern wet cleaning, Kreussler 

invented SYSTEMK4, a worldwide 

patent pending cleaning solution 

utilizing SOLVONK4, known also as 

Dibutoxymethane. Since its introduction, 

over five hundred dry cleaners have 

Care L beling Rule 

An FTC Roundtable

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converted to SYSTEMK4. Kreussler is 

active in the European association EFIT 

in discussion for the ISO care labels and 

symbols to expand definitions DIN EN ISO 

3175-2 and 3175-3 for alternative solvents. 

He has been active in the industry for 

twenty-five years, starting in his family’s 

dry cleaning business. He worked for 

Miele USA as a territory manager for 

wet cleaning and special applications 

and has been with Kreussler for the last 

thirteen years.

Robert M. Frisby

Robert Frisby is an attorney in the Division 

of Enforcement of the FTC’s Bureau of 

Consumer Protection. He is currently 

leading the FTC’s regulatory review of the 

Care Labeling, Textile, and Wool Rules. 

He joined the FTC in 1987, and has held 

several positions since then, including 

stints as an Assistant Director in the 

Enforcement Division (2002-2010), an 

attorney in the Bureau’s Division of Policy 

and Evaluation (1987-1990), and as counsel 

on detail to the Republican staff of the 

United States House of Representatives 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

(2010-2011). He received his J.D. from the 

University of Virginia School of Law and 

his B.A. from the University of Maryland.

Frank Gorman

Frank Gorman has been an Assistant 

Director in the FTC’s Enforcement Division 

since 2010. In that role, he supervises 

rulemaking proceedings, compliance 

investigations, and both federal court 

and administrative litigation. From 2007 

to 2009, he was the Chief of the FTC’s 

Criminal Liaison Unit, where he helped 

coordinate parallel civil-criminal law 

enforcement proceedings and provided 

legal advice and support to FTC attorneys 

working with criminal law enforcement 

agencies. He also served for two years 

as an Assistant Director for Regional 

Operations and as Counsel to the Director 

in the Bureau of Consumer Protection, 

and as a trial attorney in the Division of 

Marketing Practices. In addition to his 

work at the FTC, he has worked in private 

practice and as a legal services attorney. 

He received his B.A. in Political Science and 

his J.D. from the University of Connecticut.

Ann Hargrove

Ann Hargrove is the Director of Special 

Projects at the National Cleaners 

Association (NCA). For many years prior to 

joining NCA, she operated a drycleaning 

business and then a wetcleaning 

business. At NCA, she provides members 

with training relating to professional 

wetcleaning services.

Amanda B. Kostner

Amanda B. Kostner is an attorney in the 

Division of Enforcement of the FTC’s 

Bureau of Consumer Protection, which she 

joined in early 2013. Ms. Kostner previously 

worked in private practice where she 

represented financial institutions and 

public companies in litigation, government 

enforcement, investigations, and 

compliance matters related to federal 

and state fair lending, financial consumer 

protection, and securities laws.
March 28, 2014

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Adam Mansell

Adam Mansell is currently a Director of 

Wulff Consultancy, a consultancy to the 

fashion and textile industry. From 1995 

to 2011, he worked for a wide variety of 

fashion and textile bodies including the 

British Clothing Industry Association, 

the British Interior Textile Association, 

and the Silk Association. Latterly he has 

been the Chief Operating Officer of the 

UK Fashion and Textile Association – the 

umbrella body representing the whole 

of the fashion and textile supply chain. In 

addition, for the past 18 years, he has also 

run the Home Laundering Consultative 

Council, the body in the UK that has 

responsibility for the textile care labels. 

He is a member, and past President, of 

the Governing Body of GINETEX, the 

organization that owns the copyright 

to the care symbols used in ISO 3758. 

He is also a member of the ISO working 

group with responsibility for ISO 3758 

and the Convenor of the Working Group 

responsible for ISO 6330 – the Standard 

behind the care labels.

Paul Matthai

Paul Matthai is a senior regulatory analyst 

for the Pollution Prevention Division/Office 

of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (PPD/

OPPT) at the Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). Most of his work involves 

evaluating ongoing EPA rulemaking 

activities and actions to determine if 

they are suitable for Pollution Prevention 

alternatives to reduce health and 

environmental risk. One of his current 

projects is the small business dry cleaners 

sector. He is coordinating an Agency-wide 

effort to shift the dry cleaning sector to a 

wet-process technology that will reduce 

the use of perchloroethylene (Perc) and 

other solvent based cleaning processes.

Seemanta Mitra

Seemanta Mitra is Senior Director of 

Textiles for Intertek’s North America 

Softlines global business line, and 

works closely with retailers, brands and 

manufacturers of apparel, home textiles, 

footwear and accessories. He serves 

as a member of several test method 

and industry committees, including 

the American Society for Testing and 

Materials (ASTM), American Association 

of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) 

and the American Apparel & Footwear 

Association’s (AAFA) Labeling Forum, 

affording him an intricate understanding 

and insight into current issues affecting 

the textile and apparel industry, 

specifically as they relate to labeling of 

textile and apparel products. He is an 

expert on the FTC Care Labeling Rule, 

on which he has conducted technical 

presentations to vendors, factories and 

agents around the globe. He also serves 

as Intertek’s in-house expert on the scope, 

interpretation and application of the Rule 

to ensure a consistent approach in testing 

and labeling of products. Mr. Mitra earned 

a Master’s Degree in Textile Sciences from 

Clemson University, South Carolina, and 

a Bachelor’s Degree in Textile Technology 

from University of Calcutta, India.
4

Julianna Mo

Julianna Mo is the co-owner of Press 

On Cleaners in San Mateo, California. 

Her business is the only Green Business 

Certified Dry Cleaner in San Mateo 

County. Since converting to Professional 

Wet Cleaning in 2008, Ms. Mo and her 

husband, James Roh, have increased 

their sales revenue by six-fold proving 

the viability of the business model. Ms. 

Mo and Mr. Roh have attended numerous 

workshops throughout California to 

share their expertise and experience 

in the field. In October 2009, Ms. Mo 

wrote an article that was published 

in the San Mateo Daily Journal titled, 

“What is Green Dry Cleaning?” She is 

currently the Secretary of the Professional 

Wetcleaners Association.

Nora Nealis

Nora Nealis has been The Executive 

Director of The National Cleaners 

Association (NCA) for over 10 years. 

She has 30 years experience in the 

drycleaning industry. NCA maintains a 

garment analysis laboratory that tests 

the serviceability of garments for both 

the drycleaning industry as well as 

many major garment manufacturers 

and designers.

Joy Onasch

Joy Onasch oversees the community 

and small business program at the Toxics 

Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the 

University of Massachusetts Lowell. She 

manages the community grants, which 

TURI annually awards to communitybased or municipal organizations striving 

to reduce toxics. Focus areas of the 

community and small business program 

currently include reducing or eliminating 

toxics in the home (including cleaning 

and building materials), pesticides, 

perchloroethylene in dry cleaning, the 

cosmetology industry and auto shops. 

Ms. Onasch is a professional engineer with 

over fifteen years of experience assisting 

with environmental compliance issues 

and pollution prevention projects. Her 

technical focus areas include hazardous 

waste, stormwater, wastewater, oil 

storage and toxics use reduction. She 

earned a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical 

engineering from Union College and a 

Master’s degree in engineering and policy 

from Washington University in St. Louis.

Dart Poach

Dart Poach is president and owner of Don’s 

Leather Cleaning, Inc. Headquartered in 

Minneapolis, Minnesota, Don’s Specializes 

in the cleaning and refinishing of leather 

and suede apparel, fashion accessories, 

footwear and furniture. Mr. Poach is a 

second generation professional leather 

and suede cleaner who services hundreds 

of professional dry cleaners with weekly 

route service throughout the upperMidwest. He is also a founding member 

of the Professional Leather Cleaners 

Association (PLCA). Formed as a trusted 

source for high standards of quality 

care, cleaning and refinishing of suede 

and leather apparel and accessories, 

PLCA is dedicated to ongoing research 
March 28, 2014

5

development. Collectively they provide 

the outsource needs for thousands of 

drycleaners throughout the U.S.

Mir A.A.R. Quddus 

Mir Quddus has been working as a Senior 

Engineer at Whirlpool Corporation, 

Advanced Fabric Care since 2002. He 

is an adjunct faculty of Lake Michigan 

College (LMC). Previously he worked in 

various textile testing/manufacturing 

companies in the U.S. and Asia. He is 

the Chairman of AATCC RA88 Home 

Laundering Technology Committee, a 

U.S. expert to the International Standards 

Organization (ISO), and a member of 

American Chemical Society (ACS). He has 

written a chapter in Functional Materials 

from Renewable Sources, 2013. He has 

recently published articles in AATCC 

Review and Biomacromolecules journals. 

He has a Ph.D. in Fiber & Polymer Science 

and Forest Biomaterials (double major) 

from North Carolina State University, 

a M.S., Fibrous Materials Science from 

Philadelphia University, and a B.S. in Textile 

Chemistry from Bangladesh University 

of Textiles.

Charles L. Riggs

Professor Charles Riggs has been on the 

Faculty of Texas Woman’s University, with 

a joint appointment in two departments, 

Chemistry and Biochemistry and 

Textiles, since 1974. He is Chairman of 

the Drycleaning Remediation Advisory 

committee to the Texas Commission on 

Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and one 

of only three U.S. representatives on 

the International Research Committee 

on Textile Care (ICT). He works with 

the American Society for Testing and 

Materials (ASTM) in connection with D-13: 

Textiles and D-12: Soaps and Detergents; 

and is a U.S. expert to the International 

Standards Organization (ISO), in 

connection with development of ISO 3758 

and ISO 3175. His books include Textile 

Laundering Technology, Textile Rental 

Services Association of America, 1979, 1982, 

1990, 2005. He has also authored over 

100 articles, reports, and presentations 

in the area of textile cleaning. He has a 

Ph.D. in Chemistry from Oklahoma State 

University and a B.S., Chemistry (ACS 

certified) and Mathematics (double 

major).

Mary Scalco

Mary Scalco is the CEO of the Drycleaning 

& Laundry Institute. She has experience 

and knowledge in all aspects of 

drycleaning, wetcleaning, and laundering. 

She has been a member of AATCC and 

ASTM and at one time was Chairman 

of the AATCC RA43, the committee that 

deals with development of test methods 

for Professional Textile Care. She worked 

with EPA on its evaluation of various textile 

care methods including wetcleaning. 

Her educational background is in 

Textile Chemistry.

Peter Sinsheimer

Peter Sinsheimer is the executive director 

of the UCLA Sustainable Technology 
6

& Policy Program, an interdisciplinary 

initiative designed to identify the viability 

of safer substitutes to toxic products 

and industrial processes and promote 

the diffusion of the safest available 

options. Since 2000, he has served as the 

principal investigator of the Environmental 

Garment Care Demonstration Project. 

Peter Sinsheimer’s research interest 

focuses on evaluating safer substitutes to 

specific product/chemical combinations, 

alternatives analysis methodology, 

zero-emission energy generation from 

renewable resources and regulatory 

policy reform promoting sustainable 

technologies. His degrees include a 

Master’s in public health in epidemiology 

as well as a Master’s degree and Ph.D. in 

urban planning.

Stacy Sopcich

Stacy Sopcich is the Executive Director 

of Strategic Branding & Sustainability 

at GreenEarth Cleaning. Ms. Sopcich 

authored GreenEarth’s 2011 and 2012 

submissions on the FTC’s Care Labeling 

Rule, and is the strategic lead for 

GreenEarth’s Manufacturer Labeling 

Program, developed in response to 

demand for care instructions that 

specifically recommend the GreenEarth 

process. She is also GreenEarth’s lead 

with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition 

(SAC), where she has helped develop 

Product Category Rules to measure the 

environmental impact of apparel and is 

currently working on consumer education 

initiatives for product care. She has 

working knowledge of the consumer and 

industry issues around professional wet 

cleaning and expertise in care labeling 

standards, symbols and reasonable 

basis requirements.

Alan Spielvogel

Alan Spielvogel is the Director of Technical 

Services, National Cleaners Association; 

Chief Garment Analyst, National Center 

for Garment Analysis; and Director, 

New York School of Drycleaning. He is a 

contributing columnist to two national 

drycleaning trade publications and has 

contributed to publications such as Martha 

Stewart Living, The National Enquirer, 

Good Housekeeping, Pure and Simple, 

Essence, In Style, Woman’s Wear Daily as 

well as The Associated Press, United Press 

International, The Wall Street Journal and 

The New York Times. New York Magazine 

voted him the “Best of the Best” in the field 

of vintage garment and fabric restoration. 

He has made television appearances on 

Good Morning America as well as other 

consumer oriented news programs on 

NBC, WPIX, and UPN as well as various 

syndicated television stations and cable 

outlets. With 43 years in the drycleaning 

industry, he has owned and operated his 

own plant, attended The Fashion Institute 

Of Technology, and authored numerous 

publications and manuals regarding 

fabrics, drycleaning, wetcleaning, 

machinery operation and maintenance.