Amid regulatory pressures in states such as Massachusetts to divert ragged-out textiles – particularly cotton-polyester garments – from landfills, Alsco Uniforms – Australia is partnering with an Aussie firm that’s pioneered a process that breaks out polyester for reuse in plastic products. What’s more, cellulose from the cotton serves as a component for a hydromulch that’s sprayed on areas cleared of plant life for building projects in order to grow new vegetation.

TRSA’s Executive Management Institute (EMI) held its 58th yearly commencement on Aug. 10, with 14 rising industry leaders graduating after completing the final segment of a four-year educational program for members of the linen, uniform and facility services industry.

Managing the fleet operations of linen, uniform and facility services companies comes with challenges that can generate stress and sleeplessness for fleet managers and other executives. Textile Services Weekly heard a lot about the difficulties confronting these managers during a panel discussion at the TRSA Fleet Summit in Baltimore.

Paul Rasband, M&A/supply chain director for Alsco Uniforms, oversees these and other issues for the company’s international headquarters in Salt Lake City. Textile Services Weekly recently interviewed Rasband – along with other industry experts – on supply-chain trends in the COVID-19 era as background for an upcoming article on this topic. The following are excerpts from our recent discussion with Rasband on the shifting supply-chain scene he sees in today’s markets for linen, uniform and facility services operators.

For April’s Textile Services magazine we’ll offer readers insights on the supply-chain crisis precipitated by COVID-19 and how operators and suppliers have adjusted their planning in light of the pandemic that began three years ago. Below are highlights from the forthcoming article, titled “Supply-Chain Strategies: Lessons from the Pandemic.”

Ben Fox, Alsco Uniforms, Salt Lake City, recently advanced from director of sales and marketing to vice president of that department, following a January meeting of Alsco Uniform’s Board of Directors.

Several TRSA members are back serving customers in the areas impacted by Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm that made landfall in the Fort Myers, FL, area packing devastating 150-mile-per-hour winds.

TRSA recently held its Annual Conference in Nashville, TN, where its new board members for the upcoming year were announced.  

TRSA’s Roger F. Cocivera Professional Management Institute (PMI) completed its yearly program on Aug. 11 with a commencement ceremony that drew nearly 200 attendees to the College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center just off the University of Maryland campus. Nine laundry and supplier professionals received their two-year PMI certificates.

Roughly 200 guests, students, faculty and staff attended an Aug. 11 commencement program at the University of Maryland that saw 11 leaders of laundry and supplier partner companies graduate from the association’s four-year educational program that’s designed to take their careers to new heights.