New Name and Partnerships Take Cobmex in Fresh Direction

By Jackie Rosselli

What’s in a name? Everything, if you’re Cobmex Apparel.

This fall, Cobmex will officially change its name to PSC Uniform Apparel, a moniker which better reflects the company’s focus these days. “Public safety is the anchor of the company in Canada, and will be in the United States as well,” says Cobmex’s owner Phil Newman.

But there is another reason for the switch. Cobmex, an acronym meaning Cobbler’s Mexico, has at times evoked strong negative reaction from those in the States. “We may be in a global marketplace, but Xenophobia still exists in some segments of the industry,” notes Newman.

In actuality, Cobmex has strong American roots, and today has an office and warehouse in Buffalo, NY. The company first got its start in California, primarily as a supplier to the school apparel industry. “It was my father-in-law’s business, and I would help him source items in Mexico for sale in the states and Canada,” explains Phil Newman, who later launched a division of Cobmex in Canada that focused on the public safety market.

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Group Success

By Joseph Greco, M.S.O.D.

If, like me, as your career progresses, you have become more involved in group projects both in personal and professional life. Groups can take a number of shapes including committees, project teams or boards of directors.

While the orientation and missions may change from business to charity organizations, the principles of successful group achievement share similar considerations. The difference may be in the role you play and the personalities and power characteristics of the group members. When you are the executive or manager in your own company, you probably have more control and input as to the composition of the group and the stated objectives or goals.

When serving on a board of directors for an industry association, social organization or charity, the other group members will likely have comparable executive or professional status. How can you exercise your leadership capability to ensure achievement of goals and successful group interactions?

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Is Green the Color of Money?

By Debra Hindlemann Webster

Going “green:” Turning away from “browned out” technology in order to allow our natural resources to be in the pink. Let us review…

For the uniform industry to maintain itself, it has to dedicate its focus to a few steadfast principles: Economy, durability, longevity, practicality, and attractive appearance. As things currently stand, few to none of these aspects that are so necessary in a top notch uniform are real possibilities in an organic garment. Perhaps they will be accessible one day—even sooner rather than later—but for now, there is a choice to be made between the two.

Let’s take economy. The cost of organic fibers is anywhere from two to four times greater than standardized fabrics. For virgin plants, there have to be customized agricultural procedures, such as insect prevention without using pesticides, or isolated fields that don’t utilize chemically protective measures. At this point in time, these limited methods of growth and harvest are minimal in scope compared to standard horticultural techniques; thus, enormously expensive: A tough sell in the marketplace.

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Over 100 uniform dealers and manufacturers now use the UniformMarket Store System to display products and sell online!

Here are a few of our newest users:

Tablecloth World www.chefxl.com Chicago, IL Image Experts www.imageexperts.net Schenectady, NY M Direct www.mdirectuniforms.com Mundelein, IL

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