Industry Awards Dinner Highlights Day One of the Legislative Conference

The prestigious Best Plants of the Year awards closed out the Industry Awards Dinner, a formal affair celebrating the best that the linen, uniform and facility services industry has to offer. The dinner ceremony drew more than 125 executives, and capped the first day of TRSA’s 15th Annual Legislative Conference on Feb. 5 in Washington, DC.

Earning the Gold Level award – the highest honors – in the Best Plant category were NOVO Health Services Madison, TN, location; and Unitex Healthcare Laundry Services’ Lawrence, MA, facility. The General Manager of NOVO’s Madison, TN, location, Brett Wooden, accepted the award for NOVO, while David Potack (pictured above, right), president, Unitex, accepted the award for the Lawrence plant. Each gave brief remarks after accepting the award from TRSA Chair Randy Bartsch (pictured above, left).

Opened in 2016, the NOVO facility underwent major refurbishment of existing equipment in 2024, upgrading two tunnel washers, presses, dryers, ironer/folder/feeders and blanket blasters. The tool room and engineering shop were renovated. About 7,000 square feet of plant space was renovated, with the finished goods end of the plant adding 900-plus feet of trolley storage for garments shipped to depots. A boiler and make up water system/tank were added. The facility produces 55,000 lbs. (24,947 kg.) daily and has 75 employees.

The Unitex plant, opened in 2020, produces more than 160,000 lbs. (72,574 kg.) per day and has 221 employees. Marketing and account managers survey end users at least quarterly to determine customer satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 4. Performance measures cover responsiveness, frequency of in-person visits, customer service, transportation and delivery, product quality and overall linen service. The quality of each main linen item is also rated 1 to 4, prompting senior management response to address concerns. In 2024, Unitex transitioned the plant to new business management software (route accounting).

Other honorees in the Best Plants of the Year category included Silver Award winners Alsco Uniforms’, Vista, CA, plant and PureStar’s Norwich, CT, facility. Honorable Mention winners included UniFirst Corp., Hammond, IN; and Wildman Business Group, Warsaw, IN.

Including the Best Plants of the Year, the Industry Awards Dinner featured 58 awardees across 11 categories, with most awards featuring Gold and Silver level awards plus an Honorable Mention category for other outstanding nominees. Awards were handed out in the following categories:

• Above & Beyond Service
• Advertising Effectiveness
• Clean Green Sustainability
• Company Community Service
• Diversity Recognition
• Fleet Graphics
• Member Engagement
• SafeTRSA Safety Excellence
• TRSA Legislator of the Year
• Video

For more information on TRSA’s Industry Awards Dinner, held each year at the Legislative Conference, and its awards program, visit www.trsa.org/awards.

A full day of committee meetings, education and networking preceded the Industry Awards Dinner. The following TRSA Committees held meetings at the Legislative Conference:

• Government Relations
• Healthcare
• Hospitality/F&B
• Industrial/Uniform
• Information Technology
• Marketing, Sales & Service
• Next-Generation Executives Network
• Safety

Keynote speaker John Harwood, who has reported for prestigious news outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNBC, CNN, PBS and NPR during a three-decade career, addressed attendees on the impact of the recent presidential election. Harwood, who has interviewed every president from George H.W. Bush to Joe Biden, talked about Donald Trump’s return to office, the uncertainty surrounding his recent executive orders, tariff announcements and more before taking several questions from the audience.

Following Harwood’s keynote address, Nick Koolsbergen, the founder and CEO of Wellington Advocacy, gave an update on the political climate in Canada before Kevin Schwalb, TRSA’s vice president of government relations, gave attendees a Hill Day Issue Briefing and Orientation designed to prepare conference attendees for their meetings on Capitol Hill the next day.

Thanks to TRSA’s Five-Star Partners JENSEN Group, Kannegiesser ETECH and Pellerin Milnor; Four-Star Partners Alliant Systems, G.A. Braun and Unitex International Inc.; and Premium Sponsors Brim Laundry Machinery Co. Inc.; Ellis Corp. and Lavatec Laundry Technology Inc. JENSEN sponsored TRSA’s Annual Industry Awards Dinner. For coverage of the inaugural Laundry Hill Day, click here. To read a recap of the Supplier Partner Workship, click here.