The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) has announced that Larry Cooper, president of Textile Consultants, will leave the IICRC after 27 years of service and contracting at the end of 2011.


The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) has announced that Larry Cooper, president of Textile Consultants, will leave the IICRC after 27 years of service and contracting at the end of 2011.   

“I have had an amazing opportunity to serve with some great people building an industry. I worked with nine presidents of IICRC including: Eric Rottmeister, Mike West, Bob Wittkamp, Mike Lynch, Dan Bernazzani, Dane Gregory, Lee Zimmerman, Carey Vermeulen, Ruth Travis and Paul Pearce. I also got to work with two great executive directors, Kenway Mead and Tom Hill, and their staffs,” Cooper said. “Working with all of these great industry leaders and two amazing standard chairmen, Barry Costa and Jim Holland, has been an amazing journey and accomplishments for a lifetime goal of growing and uplifting the cleaning and restoration Industry.”

Cooper served as the vp of IICUC, the former name of the IICRC, in 1984 and president from 1985-1988. He served on the IICRC Board of Directors for 19 years and provided leadership during the major growth and development years of the organization. When Cooper took over as president there were 300 Certified Technicians and today there are more than 54,000.

Cooper, serving as the first chairman of the Instructors and Schools Committee, helped write the first IICRC carpet inspector course and test; he also worked to develop curriculum and the platform for the format of the IICRC today. Cooper’s wife, Tryna, also served on the IICUC/IICRC board for 10 years as secretary from 1984-1994. Cooper recruited many of the association shareholder organizations to the IICRC and has worked closely with them over the years. He has represented the IICUC and IICRC worldwide, giving more than 500 presentations representing the organization and the cleaning and restoration industry.

Cooper served as chairman of the IICRC Standards Committee from 1990 until he was hired as a consultant for the organization in 2003 to oversee the writing of standards for the IICRC. He was responsible for implementing the accreditation of the IICRC with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Since 1990, Cooper has been directly in charge of the development, committee organization and approval process for the IICRC S100 Carpet Cleaning Standard and Reference Guide, the IICRC S300 Upholstery Cleaning Standard and Reference Guide, the IICRC S500 Water Damage Restoration Standard and Reference Guide, and the IICRC S520 Mold Remediation Standard and Reference Guide. Currently, the standards committee is working to complete an IICRC S600 Carpet Installation Standard and Reference Guide and the IICRC S800 Carpet Inspector Standard and Reference Guide. Cooper will continue to work through 2012 to complete the IICRC S600 Standard under an agreement with the IICRC.

Cooper currently owns/partners in Textile Consultants, Meetings and Events LLC (which manages the Connections Conventions and Trade Shows), Restoration Journeys and Journeys for Conscious Living. Recently, Cooper started the Professional Cleaning and Restoration Network to provide operational, sales training and technical support in the commercial floor covering maintenance industry and the water damage restoration industry. He will spend his future time and efforts continuing to work in his current businesses. Cooper stated that “the greatest honor in my life has been getting the opportunity to work with my family and friends every day and seeing them grow to become leaders and huge contributors in their own personal endeavors.”