Next-Generation Executive Featured in Family Business Mag

Greg Shames, the vice president of operations at American Textile Maintenance, Los Angeles, recently was featured in an article in Family Business magazine. The article is titled, “NextGens to Watch 2023.”

Shames graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2014 with a degree in business administration. He worked in finance at Walt Disney Studios before joining the family business in 2016.

“Greg is a very astute and dedicated young professional who grew up in the business,” said Renee Mendoza, human resources director at American Textile Maintenance. “He spent many summers in the plants, learning production operations, engineering and sales, and worked closely with the service teams delivering our products throughout Los Angeles.”

His first full-time position at the company was operations director for American Textile Maintenance’s newest division, Medico Healthcare Linen Service, which focuses on providing textile rental and laundry services to hospitals. In this role, Shames oversaw day-to-day operations and expansion of the customer base.

“When I started, we serviced the laundry needs for approximately 10 hospitals,” Shames said. “Today, we service over 60 hospitals, with more joining. Aside from having a great team, we attribute some of our success to the fact that we are one of the last remaining family-owned-and-operated providers in our service territory. This gives us a unique advantage, as we have not lost the roots of our service-first approach.”

Today, Shames is vice president of operations at the company’s Medico Healthcare Linen Service and Republic Master Chefs units, which together have roughly 900 employees at nine locations, serving more than 7,500 customers in Southern California.

“Working for the family business brings me a sense of pride to the work I do each day, which I did not necessarily feel when working for a large corporation,” Shames said. “Some of my most fond memories from childhood were from the days that my dad would take me to work and let me work in the factory. Today, I still work with many of the same people.

“I am excited to see our family take this company into the fifth generation.”

To read the Family Business magazine article online, click here.