As U.S. laundry operators and supplier partners enter mid-summer ’21, most observers agree that the threat of COVID-19 is (finally) fading. Last year’s shutdowns are gradually coming off and—we hope—business growth will pick up where it left off in the early weeks of last year.

The problem—abundantly clear to many U.S. companies is 1) You may not have enough people to do the work when demand accelerates and 2) you’ll likely be short on the management team you’ll need to lead the post-COVID charge. One answer to the second challenge may be to look to female hourly staff in the ...