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Mr. Bernie Arends is the Director of the Glenview, IL Fire
Prevention Bureau. In July of 2002, Director Arends suggested
that “Our
industry needs to educate municipal officials about current
technology and products in the kitchen ventilation sector”.
We took that challenge literally and created UP
YOUR STACK®.
Nine months later, a group of Chicago area foodservice consultants
from FCSI and manufacturer representatives from MAFSI Region
17, presented a full day seminar to 233 attendees. 82% of the
attendees filled out their evaluation forms and gave the program
very high ratings. By keeping the presentations simple and
clear of technical jargon, the eight industry speakers provided
clear explanations of every facet of Commercial Kitchen Ventilation.
We challenged the attendees by stating that “We
who design, build and inspect CKV systems
generally do not communicate”. Many heads were
observed nodding in the audience at that comment. The Q&A
session lasted an amazing 75 minutes after the presentations
due to the high level of interest.
UP YOUR STACK® attendees were a very diverse group of
people from AHJ officials to mechanical engineers to designers.
What was unique was how the AHJ community embraced the opportunity
to come and learn. With 27% of the audience in attendance being
municipal officials, we knew that we had tapped an unmet need.
The diverse audience also included foodservice consultants
and dealer designers, manufacturers and their representatives,
national chain operators, HVAC contractors and code agency
officials from the ICC, UL and NSF.
We trust that the material being developed for this web site
will be informative to and helpful to you and other people
associated with CKV all over the US.
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