Meet Our Instructors
Jon-Don works with some of the BEST instructors in the industry. Not only are they experts in their fields, but they are passionate about teaching and helping their students succeed.
Click the links below to learn about our instructor team and find their next class.
Congratulations to Barry Costa on His Well-Earned Retirement!
Barry Costa retired in 2024 after 38 years of teaching and more than 50 years in the cleaning and restoration industry.
Since becoming an IICRC approved instructor in 1986, Barry taught thousands of cleaning and restoration contractors around the world, helping them to earn certifications in carpet repair and reinstallation and water damage restoration, and numerous other certifications. Barry taught in-person WRT training for many years before moving to exclusively live stream/online training in 2020.
"Barry is an absolute legend in the cleaning and restoration industry and quite literally wrote the book on water damage restoration standards. The positive impact he has had on the industry and his students is simply immeasurable," said Alexandra Gualtieri, Director of Content, Training, and Communications for Jon-Don. "On behalf of all of us at Jon-Don, we wish him all the best in this next chapter!"
Greg Anderson
Greg Anderson has been involved in the cleaning and restoration industry since 2004 and spent many years managing emergency mitigation services, mold remediation, construction projects, and disaster relief efforts. He has real-world experience working as a Technician, Crew Chief, Project Manager, Operations Manager, Sales Manager, and Adjuster, giving him a unique perspective into all aspects of restoration work.
Greg is passionate about training, mentoring, and helping restoration contractors achieve and maintain high standards of excellence. He is currently the owner of RMT Consulting, through which he provides restoration business owners and managers across the country with guidance, support, and training.
In addition to being an IICRC approved instructor, Greg is an IICRC Triple Master. This prestigious status is granted to those who have achieved the Master Fire & Smoke Restorer, Master Textile Cleaner, and Master Water Restorer Designations.
Greg teaches:
• IICRC Water Restoration Technician - In-Person Only
Shawn Bisaillon
Shawn Bisaillon has been teaching professionally for over 20 years. He holds credentials as an Approved IICRC Instructor, IICRC Master Textile cleaner, and Master Restorer. Shawn and his wife Anna have operated a successful multi-truck cleaning and restoration business in Denver, CO for more than 15 years. Shawn works wot make the science of cleaning fun, interesting, and profitable.
Mark Cornelius
With more than 40+ years of experience, Mark Cornelius has been an approved IICRC instructor since 2008 and is an IICRC triple Master. Mark serves on the IICRC Board of directors, the S540 standards committee, Vice-Chairs the OCT committee and other IICRC functions. He is the founder of EMTA, the Emergency Mitigation Technician Academy. He is also the president of DRI and is still active getting his hands dirty and feet wet in the restoration and cleaning industry. Mark is also a former Fire Fighter and EMT-I for 15+ years and also a NPQ-1 Fire Instructor.
Mark teaches:
• IICRC Applied Microbial Remediation Technician
Barry Costa
An IICRC approved instructor in the areas of Carpet Repair and Reinstallation; Water Damage Restoration, Barry has instructed across the United States, Canada, the U.K. and Australia. The recipient of the “John Mauciere Excellence in Education”, “George Cervenka Volunteerism Award”, “2003 CleanFax Person of the Year”, “The Ralph Bloss Humanitarian Award”, as well as other honors bestowed in this industry including “Instructor of the Year”, twice voted by his peers in the IICRC.
Barry’s certifications within the cleaning and restoration industries include: IICRC certified Master Cleaner; Master Restorer; Senior Carpet Inspector. Barry was also an approved OSHA General Industry Outreach Trainer.
Barry is a contributing author to the national water damage standard’s S500-94 and S500 2nd edition and the newly revised ANSI/IICRC S500 3rd edition as well as S100, S300, S520 and the newly approved ANSI/IICRC approved S520 2nd edition.
Jeff Cutshall
Jeff Cutshall is a Master Textile Cleaner and Approved IICRC Instructor. He started his carpet and upholstery cleaning journey over 40 years ago and has enjoyed working as an employee, a manager, and a successful business owner. Jeff has been teaching, consulting, and traveling internationally for over 20 years. In addition, Jeff has been operating his commercial carpet cleaning business in Kansas City for 21 years. Because of his passion for teaching, Jeff has made sure that his students receive the most rewarding educational experience.
Alex Duta
Alexandru (Alex) Duta is a restoration entrepreneur and co-founder of an 8-figure restoration company out of Chicago and Albiware, a restoration job management software. After leaving the restoration front lines and working in software, Alex stayed in tune with the industry through education. Alex is the youngest Xactimate Certified trainer and one of very few that have real world restoration experience to bring to the table. He blends the Xactimate course curriculum with real world business principles, helping restoration contractors grow their business and get paid faster. His passion is helping others grow their restoration businesses through efficiency and social responsibility.
Bob Merkt
Bob Merkt has been involved in the cleaning industry for more than 35 years. He is the owner of MEGA – The Merkt Educational Group and Associates. Bob is an IICRC-approved instructor, an invited speaker at industry events, author, and contributor to many industry publications. He is an IICRC Master Cleaner, and past chair of the IICRC Floor Care Technician (FCT) Committee. Currently, He is the vice chair of the Stone Masonry Technician (SMT) course and a member of the FCT committee. Bob enjoys teaching and leads his classes with an energetic, humorous and easy-to-understand style that his students enjoy.
In addition, Bob and his wife Linda own and operate Kettle Moraine Professional Cleaners. Their company has two divisions, one is a residential carpet, upholstery, and hard floor care company and the other a full service janitorial cleaning company that offers custodial services, carpet, upholstery and hard floor care.
Steve Toburen
Steve Toburen spent over 20 years "down in the trenches" building his cleaning and restoration company into a 1.4 million dollar business. (All in a very small market of 30,000 people!) After successfully selling his flagship company, Steve developed his Home Front Success training for residential service companies. He is an internationally recognized expert on small services businesses, a widely published author, and a popular instructor. Since 1996, Steve has been the Director of Training for Jon-Don's Strategies for Success (SFS) program. Under his direction. SFS has transformed the lives of thousands of cleaning and restoration industry professionals. Steve now provides SFS Training online.
Ivan Turner
Ivan Turner is the CEO of ShowMe Marketing Solutions and past President of AERODRY Disaster Restoration. He boasts a 23-year record of leading a highly respected full service restoration company in mid-Missouri. After leaving his previous business, Ivan had served as founder and CEO of Disaster Brigade, USA a full-service disaster restoration contractor serving 14 mid-Missouri counties in addition to mobilizing on multiple occasions to catastrophic events.
Ivan has written comprehensive how-to books Marketing to Agents & Adjusters and Marketing to Plumbers. Ivan has been featured and published in Millionaire Blueprints and ICS Magazine, CleanFax and R&R, co-authored 101 Ways to Successfully Market You Restoration Business During the COVID-19 Pandemic and is the published author of I Broke the Code, So Can You! “The story of one man’s rise from obscurity to a place of prominence in the cleaning & Restoration Industry”.
Bill Weigand
Bill Weigand has been with Unsmoke since 1988 and serves as the General Manager of Training and Technical Support. Bill has been in the cleaning and restoration field since 1980, putting his restoration knowledge to work onsite at disaster restoration projects throughout North America and the Caribbean.
He has trained several thousand students for the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), and holds several designations with the IICRC, the RIA and the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA).
Bill teaches:
• IICRC Water Restoration Technician
• IICRC Fire & Smoke Remediation Technician
• IICRC Odor Control Technician
IICRC CERTIFICATION
To earn certification, students must pass the certification exam, which is available for an additional fee paid directly to the IICRC. Students must visit www.iicrc.org to register online and submit the exam fee prior to or on the first day of class.
Please keep a copy of your payment confirmation or have the means to log in at the end of the scheduled class to report to the instructor once exam registration is complete. You will need to provide proof of registration to complete the exam on the last day of training.
Please contact the IICRC with any questions regarding this process.
Interested in a Private Class for Your Company?
Many of our instructor partners are happy to teach a private/closed class just for your company. For more information, please contact Education@jondon.com to inquire on pricing, availability, and location information.