As part of TRSA’s Next-Generation Executives Committee meeting on June 15 in Chicago, 20-plus leaders of their companies toured the Roscoe Co. plant on the city’s westside. The business is now celebrating its 100th anniversary as a family-owned-and-operated independent industrial laundry.

An anticipated increase in U.S. adult inpatient days points to increased demand for textiles for acute and tertiary care. That’s a plus for linen, uniform and facility services operators who serve those facilities, while posing an additional challenge: taking advantage of the spillover growth into other patient-care settings often more difficult for the industry to serve.

TRSA recently held a series of six Regional Town Hall meetings that drew laundry operators and supplier partners from across North America, including a session dedicated to Canadian operators. These virtual gatherings focused on a range of issues such as recruitment/retention challenges, as well as policy developments in areas ranging from a new indoor heat standard to the growing prominence of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programs used by businesses worldwide.

TRSA recently updated its Infection Response Center online with information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health on how linens contaminated with the monkeypox virus should be handled.

Textile Services Weekly recently interviewed Andreas Holzer, managing director of Bardusch GmbH, Kusnacht, Germany, about trends in sustainability and how European operators are dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19. Holzer, whose company is a TRSA member, also serves as the elected chairman of the European Textile Services Association (ETSA). Excerpts of our discussion follow.

In an article slated for the July/August Clean Show double issue of Textile Services, consultant Bruce Hodes reflects on how companies can overcome adversity by embracing – rather than resisting – the reality of crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the next few days, the May issue of Textile Services will arrive in laundry operator in-boxes and homes. A key topic for this month’s issue concerns the upcoming Clean Show and what new tax breaks or restrictions the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has implemented since the 2019 show in New Orleans. Last year’s Clean Show was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Roscoe Co., a Chicago-based independent industrial launderer, formally marked its centennial on April 16 with a dinner program at the Drake Hotel downtown. The celebration – delayed by COVID-19 concerns – highlighted the family-owned company’s roots in the North Lawndale community on the city’s west side, which has faced social and economic challenges in recent decades.

TRSA’s Business Pulse Survey for the first quarter of 2022 indicated that across all market specialties, at least 80% of operators are looking to find new supplier partners (products and/or supplies, parts, etc.) to mitigate ongoing supply-chain shortages. This bodes well for the upcoming Clean Show, slated for July 30-Aug. 2 in Atlanta.

Arriving soon at your home, office or plant: the April edition of Textile Services, which includes a cover article on one of the biggest hazards facing any commercial laundry: fire.