On Aug. 20, Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lacks the legal authority to implement its “noncompete” rule.

Beck’s Classic Manufacturing Inc., Brentwood, NY, recently announced that after 36 years in the industry, Greg Mitchell, the company’s longtime director of sales, has decided to retire. Mitchell’s last day will be on June 28.

Jim Vaudreuil, CEO, Huebsch Services, Eau Claire, WI, and 2023 TRSA Operator Lifetime Achievement Award winner, passed away on March 2 at home surrounded by his wife, Christine; daughter, Isabel; and many other loved ones.

LAVATEC, Beacon Falls, CT, recently announced that Jim Shaw has joined the company’s executive team as vice president and national accounts sales manager. Well known throughout the commercial laundry industry, he is based in Cincinnati and reports to President Mark Thrasher.

William Blaine Jackson, 74, New Orleans, a longtime industry supplier partner executive and active TRSA volunteer over 43 years, passed away on May 9 after a lengthy illness.

Kevin Minissian, former president and CEO of Norchem Corp., has been posthumously chosen to receive the TRSA Maglin/Biggie Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor recognizing the exceptional lifetime contributions by a supplier partner to improve the association and industry.

Four former TRSA editors photographed during a yearly excursion in February to Mount Dora, FL. (l/r) Virginia Sowers, Charlotte Caffrey, who passed away at 96 on July 2; Christine Seaman and Nancy Jenkins.

The Executive Committee of TRSA’s Board of Directors recently voted to honor Brian O’Neil, president of California Linen Services, Pasadena, CA, with the association’s highest honor, the TRSA Operator Lifetime Achievement Award. O’Neil will receive the award on Sept. 15 at TRSA’s Annual Awards Dinner held in conjunction with its Annual Conference in Nashville, TN.

Bernard (Bernie) Ehrlich, 95, the founder of TRSA’s leading educational program, the Executive Management Institute (EMI), passed away on May 18 due to an illness. Ehrlich’s career spanned 42 years of leadership in the linen, uniform and facility services industry. He had a unique impact on generations of laundry operators who served under his tutelage.

Michael Halter, director of loss control at Haylor, Freyer and Coon Inc., Syracuse, NY, will keynote this year’s TRSA HR, Health & Safety Summit scheduled for Tuesday, May 17, in Chicago. Halter, a certified safety professional with more than 30 years of safety and health consulting experience, will provide an outside perspective on how to be safe and compliant in today’s ever-changing landscape.