12-04-00

SCHOENEMAN CORPORATION FIRST TO DONATE FUNDS FOR NEW NACCAS NATIONAL LICENSE DATABASE

$200,000 IN TOTAL FUNDING NEEDED TO LAUNCH THIS NEW PROJECT!

ARLINGTON, VA        The Schoeneman Companies have made the first major donation to help launch the NACCAS National Licensing Database Project, announces Mark Gross, CEO of the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences.  This program will ensure that salon professionals can move more easily across state lines for employment, while reducing the potential for license forgeries and the proliferation of fake paperwork in the professional salon industry.

Through four generations serving the salon industry, the Schoeneman Family observed how cosmetology licensing laws and reciprocity standards have developed.  They observed this since well before our society became so mobile as well as to note how this has negatively impacted licensed beauty professionals.  These changes often force salon professionals to leave the industry when family issues or lifestyle changes led a move to another state.  Currently, salon professionals who move across state lines or who come from another country must wait many months while their licensure paperwork is processed.  Often, those professionals are forced to find other employment and never return back to the salon business.

“This National Licensing Database Program will help the industry retain salon industry professionals, which will ease the severe labor shortage that has affected chain and independent salons’ ability to serve clients who want professional beauty services,” says Frank Schoeneman, president of Empire Education Group, the largest cosmetology school system in North America with 32 NACCAS accredited campuses in GA, MD, NJ and PA.  “Over the long run, this will help to make our industry more professional.”

As constant supporter of the industry they love, the Schoeneman family contributed to the formation of the Professional Beauty Federation (PBF) in 1999. Frank Schoeneman played an integral role in that, as well as the formation of the industry’s first political action committee, of which he serves as treasurer. In addition, he serves as vice chairman of the Pennsylvania State Board of Cosmetology, vice president of the Pennsylvania Association of Cosmetology Schools and co-chairman of the International Chain Salon Association’s government relations committee.

Dale Schoeneman, president of The Schoeneman Corporation, helped form the Cosmetology Advancement Foundation and served as its president. He also served as a board member of the Beauty and Barber Supply Institute (BBSI). Kay Schoeneman, vice president of sales for Schoeneman Beauty Supply, is the immediate past president of the BBSI and also served as a founding board member of the PBF. The Schoeneman Group, which was named 2000 Distributor of the Year, includes Schoeneman Beauty Supply, Salon Concepts, Goldwell of PA and a professional beauty store division.

Donation pledges in any amount will be greatly appreciated!   NACCAS is facilitating the new National Licensing Database Program, which requires $200,000 in seed money. To kick off the pilot program, NACCAS is actively soliciting contributions of any size. In addition, the first companies that donate $10,000 to $25,000 each in order to reach this goal, will be recognized in all future marketing and media relations programs, including use of their names and logos. 

Those who will immediately benefit from a program like this are salon chains, independent salons, manufacturers and professional beauty distributors, while it will help all salon owners and salon professionals in the future.  The cosmetology industry is in an emergency crisis situation with dramatically shrinking schools, fewer students, and many less professionally licensed salon professionals. This dramatically shrinking employment base has affected every level of our industry.  The current situation is predicted to get worse over the coming years unless we take drastic actions. Once the first eight to ten states are up and running, this National Licensing Database will self-fund itself for implementation across the USA.  This important future program now needs to solicit sufficient funding resources from all levels of the professional cosmetology industry.

“In today’s mobile society, it doesn’t make sense that a hairstylist working for a salon or a salon chain in one state can’t simply relocate to another salon in another state when his or her family moves,” says Gross. “We now need to change the future for the benefit of all our salon professionals!”

For information, contact Bob Mugnai, fundraising coordinator, at 516-377-6354 or NACCAS at 901 North Stuart Street, Suite #900, Arlington, VA 22302 USA -- 703-600-7600 or visit the NACCAS website at www.naccas.org.