Andy Thorson, managing partner and founder of Carolina Textile Care LLC, never worked a day in his life in a hospitality laundry before his startup operation began clearing ground at a wooded site in Early Branch, SC, in December 2018.

Nonetheless, he’s convinced that he can succeed in this sector because washing, drying and finishing linens isn’t all that different from other “process” businesses that he’s worked in, ranging from assembling radiation oncology equipment to manufacturing cement. “I was in a process industry before,” he says. “This (laundry) is a process industry. I was in the cement industry. You may ...