A few days before he passed away in March 2014, Chip Spilios, a co-owner of Crown Uniform & Linen Service, saw the beams and a few of the walls going up at the company’s new 94,000 square-foot laundry facility south of Boston. Though terminally ill, Chip told his brother Arthur that he was confident that the fourth-generation, family-owned industrial/mixed company would leverage its modern facility to reach new heights in the New England market.

“He said ‘You guys will fill it up,’” says Arthur Spilios, CEO of Crown. “You’ll know how to fill it up.’ That’s placed a big responsibility ...