126 | Business World Magazine |
March 2014
BW: What is the format of the next confer-
ence, in Memphis?
LARK:
That is actually our “Spring” confer-
ence which focuses on growing our junior
management staff into stronger leaders and
providing opportunity for their personal and
professional growth. For example, our plant
supervisors, HR managers, and engineers
have attended some of these conferences
when the specific subject matter relates to
their specific organizational role. The larger
conference, which is the executive educa-
tional conference, will be held in Salt Lake
City this coming September. That’s a longer
five-day conference and that’s really where
the C-suite education comes in.
BW: Talk tome about the current member-
ship. How have numbers been trending?
Youmentioned the 750 million pounds fig-
ure, but in terms of how many entities you
have as members, where has that been go-
ing in the past couple of years?
LARK:
We’re really focused on growing our
membership. It has grown slightly over the
past five years. We’ve brought in several new
members – I think we are about 45 members
at this point in time. And again, there are
some very specific criteria and requirements
in order to qualify as a member of IAHTM.
W: What is the typical entity that’s a mem-
ber? Or is there a typical?
LARK:
Yes. Membership is limited to those
organizations that are formed and operated
for the purpose of providing shared laun-
dry and textile services to two or more hos-
pitals or healthcare institutions; are owned
by governed by or under the control of one
or more hospitals or healthcare institutions
recognized by the IAHTM Board as quali-
fying hospitals or healthcare institutions;
and which have a management, ownership
and control arrangement which is consis-
tent with other members and is not a broad
based contract management arrangement
for independent or unrelated customers. The
management must report directly to a Board
of Directors and be independent of any con-
tract management company.
BW: Are there a lot of entities that would
fit your membership, but aren’t part of it?
Do you have a pretty good share of what’s
out there or are you still scratching the sur-
face?
LARK:
We have a pretty good share. There
