In The News: September 2, 2010

Automatic Savings

In the rush to get in on the green movement, some manufacturers, inside and outside the industry, have simply started telling people their products are earth-friendly. This Ortho Weed Killer? It comes in a bottle made of 100 percent post-consumer plastic! What about that 100,000-Btu gas grill? It can be recycled when you're done with it! To listen to our nations' marketing departments is to believe that absolutely everything comes with a green sheen.

Read more about automatic pool covers.

NSPF Encourages Commissioners To Stand Ground

NSPF CEO Tom Lachocki has written letters to CPSC commissioners encouraging them to resist pressure to overturn their ruling that an unblockable drain provides sufficient entrapment protection under VGB.

Originally, the CPSC commissioners voted 3-2 that the VGB anti-entrapment demands would be satisfied with an unblockable drain, and that backup devices, such as a safety vacuum release systems (SVRS), would not be required.

Since then, the Commission has been under pressure to change its ruling and mandate backup devices. Commissioner Anne Northrup has cited the Pool Safety Council specifically for trying to change the ruling in order to help spur sales of backup devices.

Lachocki believes the Commissioners need to hear from the other side as well.

"We understand that the Commission has been challenged by petition, letters and public media efforts to influence the Commission to change its ruling. We urge you to maintain your position," Lachocki said in the letter. He hopes the CPSC will remain unswayed, and feels they deserve recognition for making a good call under pressure.

"The people who work for the government deserve positive feedback when they make sound decisions," he says. "Their position on unblockable drains makes a smart balance based on a cost-benefit analysis.

"With an unblockable drain in place, there's no scientific evidence that a backup system provides any additional protection against entrapment. If equipment doesn't save additional lives, and installing it makes pools more expensive, why force people to put it on their pools?"

Northern California Builder Aids Those Left High And Dry

Premier Pools and Spas has offered to help those clients who were surprised to find out their contracted pool builder, Aqua Pool and Spa in Sacramento, went out of business. Nearly 60 customers were left with incomplete projects and without a plan.

"We feel like we have a responsibility to come in and help these people in this unfortunate situation," says Paul Porter, Premier CEO. "They've been through enough. Building a swimming pool is a fulfillment of a dream, and quite often people save for years to make it happen. It's supposed to be a fun and exciting experience."

While many of the homeowners have already paid for the pool, Premier is offering to finish the project at contractor pricing - at cost and with no profit, says the company.

For more information, visit www.premierpoolsandspas.com.

Business Briefs

The National Swimming Pool Foundation has awarded $10,000 in scholarships and fellowships to eight students for the 2010-2011 school year. Congratulations to Laura Stevens, East Texas Baptist University; Landon Brockmeyer, Texas A&M University; Craig Gosnell, Appalachian State University; Kelsey McBeain, New Mexico State University; Jane Pinckney, Cornell University; Mackenzie Pochardt, Winona State University; Steven Thompson, Ball State University; and John Sieverdes, University of South Carolina.

This past July, Paramount Pool & Spa Systems held a contest for all authorized dealers and their salespeople, giving away free cruises to Paramount's upcoming Passport to Paradise trip. The winners could choose between a Southern Caribbean or Alaskan cruise. Congratulations to Blake Herott, The Pool Man in Tomball, Texas; George Weiland, Desert Sun Pools, Gilbert, Ariz.; and Ben Bogdanof, Vineyard Pools, Clovis, Calif.

Pristiva announces that its parent company, Compass Minerals, was ranked 38 among Fortune's "100 Fastest-Growing Companies." The list will appear in the magazine's Sept. 6 issue.