Alexandra Samis, a sales manager for Five Star laundry, almost missed her 9 a.m. appointment to show us around the company’s Northside Chicago plant because a hotel customer needed extra linens and the other drivers were busy making other deliveries. 
 
“I was driving kids to school, and I got a call from the office and there’s this ‘express order’ from one of our hotels,” says Samis, who doesn’t tell us her formal title since managers at this plant typically wear multiple hats. “Express means it’s got to be processed in a certain amount of time, and you’ve ...