Task forces to support the industry’s efforts in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), facility services, information technology and risk management will join the stable of standing TRSA committees in 2023. The new groups add to the range of opportunities for members to collaborate with industry colleagues – both laundry operator and supplier partner members – who share common issues and interests, such as those associated with their specific professions or market segments (laundry user industries).

More than 300 individuals from linen, uniform and facility services companies and supplier partners responded this summer to a TRSA survey to guide the association’s activities and communications. Results highlighted the need to remain focused on issues related to workforce, cost containment and growth, and identified Textile Services magazine among TRSA media channels as providing the most value.

TRSA will host the Fifth Annual Marketing & Sales Summit this Oct. 25-26 in Tampa, FL. To gather impactful content for the Summit, committee members developed a one-question survey to find out which topics would be beneficial for marketing and sales teams.

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.

Mike Paton, the best-selling co-author of Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business and a well-known practitioner of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), will address TRSA’s Oct. 19-21 Annual Conference in Carlsbad, CA, on Oct. 20. To offer attendees and prospects a taste of what they’ll hear in Carlsbad, we put a few questions to Paton regarding EOS and how it helps companies achieve stable growth.

TRSA held its first fully in-person events since February 2020 when it hosted more than 50 linen, uniform and facility services professionals for its July 20-22 Leadership Meetings outside Chicago. The meeting included its Strategic Planning Committee, Next-Generation Executives Workshop and Board of Directors meetings, as well as its first-ever Supplier Partner Council event. The week also included a dinner for all participants, as well as a Top Golf reception.

Among the roughly 215 linen, uniform and facility services operator and supplier partners who attended five, 90-minute online TRSA Regional Town Hall sessions on March 30, 31 and April 1, pretty much everyone could agree on two things. First, they’re relieved that the economy in most parts of the U.S. has begun to emerge from last year’s COVID-19-related shutdowns. However, there also were widespread concerns expressed that a severe labor shortage could stymie the recovery.

If you want to achieve continuous improvement for your linen, uniform and facility services company, a good place to start is developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and work instructions. The benefits of having SOPs in place include standardization, communication and clarity between departments, plus a regular process for training and onboarding new employees. SOPs also can help your company show customers that your quality system is sound. Another plus is that they can help staff meet qualifications for certification programs, such as Hygienically Clean.

Every Friday, John Ross, president and CEO at Mission Linen Supply, Santa Barbara, CA, kicks off his COVID-19 response team meeting with the same question: “Who has good news?”

This is about a cover up – get it –  planning with a mask … had to say that. A chance to be silly – we need that. The challenging times continue with the kids at home, you at home, things shutting down or not, office workers working at the office in shifts, bathrooms restricted by zones. Doing business is difficult. Do not forget about the wearing of the mask … and then there is Zoom, GoToMeeting, Skype and it all goes on. For the holidays, we generated some kind of gathering and for most of us it was not a typical holiday.