The Association of Pool & Spa Professionals has formed a coalition to help protect the J-1 Summer Work Travel Program, which many pool management companies depend on to open, close and staff commercial swimming pools. The APSP J-1 Coalition, which is made up of 15 companies and associations, will be working with the State Department,…
On December 1, 2016, new overtime regulations were supposed to begin, affecting nearly half of America’s 5.5 million small businesses. The regulations, ordered by President Obama in 2014, are designed to “put more money in the pockets of middle-class workers or give them more free time,” according to the United States Department of Labor. In…
Photos by: Timor Raz Robert Blanda knows he is in good company. As the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals’ Certified Pool Builder of the Year for 2014, Blanda joins an elite group of eight previous winners. “I feel very honored,” Blanda says. Blanda, who owns Mill Bergen Pools in Brooklyn, N.Y., began his career…