TRSA recently held a live virtual event featuring targeted linen, uniform and facility services industry education for human resources and safety executives. The two-day HR, Health & Safety Summit focused heavily on human resources on the first day and safety on the final day.

VF Corp., Denver, recently announced that it promoted Matt Puckett to executive vice president and CFO. Puckett will report to VF CEO Steve Rendle and serve on the company’s executive leadership team, according to a news release.

Several TRSA operator and supplier partner members recently were named to Forbes magazine’s “America’s Best Employers for Diversity 2021” list. In collaboration with analytics firm Statista, Forbes identified the top employers for diversity through an independent survey of more than 50,000 employees working for companies employing at least 1,000 people in their U.S. operations, according to a news release.

UniFirst Corp., Wilmington, MA, recently announced a donation of more than $1 million worth of protective face masks and hand sanitizer to The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB). As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, personal protective equipment (PPE) and other materials are essential to help ensure safe and healthy transportation and distribution of emergency food and supplies to those in need across Eastern Massachusetts, according to a news release.

TRSA commemorated Earth Day 2021 by providing member company professionals most responsible for advancing the industry’s sustainability agenda with ideas for such advancement through Clean Green certification. These individuals were encouraged to discuss with each other their companies’ potential to foster linen, uniform and facility services’ continued growth in the “circular” economy.

The year 2020 may have been one of the most difficult in modern history. The pandemic, civil unrest, our IT infrastructure being attacked by axis powers. … So many engines of economic destruction that we, as businesses, had so little control of.

I loved the HBO show, The Sopranos. I’m a bit of a Mafia aficionado; I’ve been fascinated with that culture ever since my grandmother (!) gave me a book by Jimmy “The Weasel” Fratianno to read when I was 16. In an early episode of The Sopranos, James Gandolfini, playing Tony Soprano (the main character and the leader or “don” of the Soprano mob) was hosting a barbecue in his back yard for other mobsters. Tony manned the grill while wearing Bermuda shorts, and this prompted a visit the next week.

Diamond Chemical Co. Inc., East Rutherford, NJ, recently added Alfred Ramirez to its staff as a technical service representative – laundry group, according to a news release.

Textile Care Services (TCS), a healthcare laundry operation with a longtime presence in Salt Lake City, recently installed new Lavatec equipment that has helped the company process an influx of new business, including a five-year contract from the University of Utah to handle six million pounds of linen annually, according to a news release.

TRSA supplier partner Standard Textile, Cincinnati, recently was selected as a 2021 U.S. Best-Managed Company. Sponsored by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal, the program recognizes outstanding U.S. private companies and the achievements of their management teams, according to a news release.