Tom Watts, president of Prudential Overall Supply, Irvine, CA, told a crowd of nearly 200 people at TRSA’s Sept. 19 Awards Dinner during the 106th Annual Conference that he felt like the entire industry should receive recognition for its work. However, he graciously accepted the laundry industry’s highest honor, the Operator Lifetime Achievement Award, thanking his wife, Marcy, and Prudential Chairman Dan Clark for their many years of personal and professional support.

“I will say this,” said Watts, in a lighthearted address that capped a 43-year career at Prudential that began in 1975 as a route service representative, “Everybody in ...