About Our Awards

TRSA Awards recognize individuals and teams from Operator and Supplier Partner member companies for exemplary work efforts on behalf of their individual businesses and the industry. During the time period that nominations are open, member company personnel are encouraged to submit colleagues’ names for these accolades and encourage others to second these nominations. Winners are invited to the TRSA Legislative Conference in Washington, DC to be honored in a presentation ceremony.

Jim Buik (r), 2024 Operator Lifetime Achievement Award winner, with TRSA Past Chair Jim Kearns

Operator Lifetime Achievement Award

The TRSA Operator Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor bestowed upon an industry professional. The award recognizes exceptional personal service to both the linen, uniform and facility services industry and TRSA. Operator members may nominate. This award is bestowed at the TRSA Annual Conference.

Nominations for the 2025 TRSA Operator Lifetime Achievement Award are welcome and due by December 1, 2024.

Maglin/Biggie TRSA Lifetime Achievement Award

Candidates for this highest Supplier Partner honor will have served TRSA in ways that have improved the association and industry. Any TRSA member (Operator or Supplier Partner) may nominate. Presented at the TRSA Annual Conference, the award is named for Rudy Maglin (Dober/Spindle) and James Biggie (Penn Cos.), outstanding supporters of TRSA programs that promote and protect linen, uniform and facility services operations.

Nominations for the 2025 Maglin/Biggie TRSA Lifetime Achievement Award are welcome and due by December 1, 2024.

Phil Hart (r), 2024 Maglin-Biggie Lifetime Supplier winner, with TRSA CEO Joseph Ricci
Best Plant - NOVO Miami

Best Plants of the Year Award

Linen, uniform and facility services laundries recognized in the TRSA Best Plants of the Year competition are acknowledged for their comprehensive efforts to improve capabilities to supply, launder and maintain textiles for their business customers. Applications for this honor describe achievements and surmounted obstacles and cite statistical results across a wide range of indicators from environmental stewardship to productivity improvement.

Nominations for this award are due September 30, 2025 for inclusion in the 2026 Legislative Conference Awards Ceremony.

Years of Service Awards

Get widespread recognition for local workers who demonstrate the skills and dedication to grow with the industry. Every TRSA member company can take advantage of these awards that honor their senior employees. Individuals get their first certificate when they achieve 25 years in the industry. Their companies can have them recognized again in 5-year increments thereafter (in years 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50). Express gratitude to individuals for their hard work over decades,, whether they’re on the front line or in management or in production, route service, engineering, maintenance, sales or other areas.

Nominations for this award are due Sept. 19, 2025 for inclusion in the November 2025 issue of Textile Services magazine.

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Lynn Whitehouse, director of Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet's KYSafe program, presents the Governor’s Safety and Health Award to UniFirst Safety Team Leader Robert Carlile (Photo courtesy of The Owensboro Times).

SafeTRSA Safety Excellence Award

The SafeTRSA Safety Excellence Award recognizes a company or facility that has innovated to improve safety. This honor recognizes operations that are a step ahead, completing projects and demonstrating achievements quantified as exceptional. Nominations present evidence of increased workplace safety conscientiousness.

Nominations for this award are due September 30, 2025 for inclusion in the 2026 Legislative Conference Awards Ceremony.

Increased adoption of water recycling across locations prompted recognition of ImageFIRST as a 2024 Clean Green honoree

Clean Green Innovation Award

The TRSA Clean Green Innovation Award recognizes outstanding efforts in environmental improvement by a company and/or facility implementing an innovative approach to increasing sustainability, reducing energy consumption and positively impacting the environment. A company/location may nominate itself. All nominations are encouraged to quantify their results.

Nominations for this award are due September 30, 2025 for inclusion in the 2026 Legislative Conference Awards Ceremony.

City Uniforms and Linen won 2024 TRSA community service honor for continuous support of local charitable causes

Company Community Service Award

TRSA recognizes that many companies in our industry make significant contributions to individuals and their community every day by volunteering their time, actions, talents and dedication outside of the workplace. The annual Community Service Award honors companies that have been generous with their time and talents and brings to light their sense of caring and responsibility for others in the community.

Nominations for this award are due September 30, 2025 for inclusion in the 2026 Legislative Conference Awards Ceremony.

A+BS - Foltex - Corporate 4

Above and Beyond Service Award

Customer service is critical to the success of your company. No matter how fast or efficient your plant and production staff may be, if the service is not, success will elude you. While there is plenty of good customer service in this industry, truly above and beyond service is rare. The Above and Beyond Service Award recognizes those who exceed the levels of good service and set a higher standard for others to follow.

Nominations for this award are due September 30, 2025 for inclusion in the 2026 Legislative Conference Awards Ceremony.

Top honors in the 2024 diversity award category went to Sohn Linen, acknowledging their embrace of their community’s history of diversity and inclusion

Diversity Recognition Award

The TRSA Diversity Recognition Award tells the story of individual or company that has encouraged and facilitated increased diversity in the linen, uniform and facility services industry. These individuals and companies are tackling big issues and making our industry better every day.

Nominations for this award are due September 30, 2025 for inclusion in the 2026 Legislative Conference Awards Ceremony.

Unitex Healthcare Laundry Services winners in this cateogry: Charles Edelman (2024) and Mike Lang (2021)

Volunteer Leadership Award

The TRSA Volunteer Leadership Award honors individuals from Operator and Supplier Partner companies whose expertise has guided TRSA successes in advocacy, education, research, benchmarking or networking. These individuals recognize the competitive benefits and overall economic value to their companies of strengthening the entire linen, uniform and facility services industry, including their own competitors.

Nominations for this award are due September 30, 2025 for inclusion in the 2026 Legislative Conference Awards Ceremony.

2024 award-winning Plymate, Inc. video covered numerous aspects of company operations (service personnel shown here)

Video Award

This competition enables Operator and Supplier Partner members to have their videos judged for creativity and messaging alongside those of industry peers. Fellow TRSA members rate the effectiveness of videos on how well they fulfill their intended purpose, whether purely informative, such as showcasing a company or its employees or products or services; or technical: describing capabilities, processes or product features such as training for customers.

Nominations for this award are due September 30, 2025 for inclusion in the 2026 Legislative Conference Awards Ceremony.

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Fleet Graphics Award

The TRSA Fleet Graphics winners are acknowledged for how their chosen images and text, on their truck fleet, reflect their companies’ key attributes as linen, uniform and facility services, which could include sustainability, hygiene, service timeliness, textile durability…whatever qualities of the organization the company seeks to portray.

Nominations for this award are due September 30, 2025 for inclusion in the 2026 Legislative Conference Awards Ceremony.