Operator Lifetime Achievement: Vaudreuil to Get Award at Annual Conference

TRSA’s Executive Committee and past Lifetime Achievement Award recipients recently voted to honor James Vaudreuil, the president of Huebsch Services, Eau Claire, WI, with TRSA’s Operator Lifetime Achievement Award. Vaudreuil will receive the award on Oct. 12 at TRSA’s Annual Awards Dinner, held in conjunction with the 110th Annual Conference at the Ritz-Carlton, Tiburon, in Naples, FL.

Vaudreuil has served as President and CEO of Huebsch Services since 1980 and recently celebrated 125 years of the company’s continuous family ownership. An innovative leader of an independent family-owned business, he was instrumental in the development of the uniform rental industry’s initial integrated barcode tracking system and the industry’s first integrated mat tracking system utilizing RFID technology.

Vaudreuil served on the TRSA Board of Directors from 2016 to 2022 and is an active member of the TRSA Industrial, Uniform & Workwear Committee. He also served on the Uniform & Textile Service Association (UTSA) Board of Directors from 1998 to 2000 and Secretary/Treasurer from 2000 to 2006. He is a founder and active member of the Wisconsin Association of Textile Services (WATS). Other milestones that make Vaudreuil worthy of the industry’s highest honor include:

• In 2016, Vaudreuil and Huebsch pioneered the installation of solar panels on his plant. This earned Huebsch a TRSA Clean Green Award for sustainability in 2019. The solar power installation underscored the company’s commitment to technological innovation, coupled with corporate social responsibility.
• Vaudreuil and Huebsch earned a 2019 TRSA Community Service Award for charitable work including raising $18,700 in employee donations to the United Way, donating floor mats, towels and volunteers for the Wisconsin Special Olympics Polar Plunge. The company also donated toys, hats and mittens to the Boys and Girls Club of the Greater Chippewa Valley during the holidays, among other efforts.
• Under Vaudreuil’s leadership, Huebsch was among the first companies to implement a mask rule to protect its staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They then went further, borrowing a page from their forebears during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-’20, to sew and distribute thousands of masks for employees, customers and organizations in need. They invited the public in for a mass sewing effort and ultimately donated nearly 20,000 masks to healthcare providers.
• Vaudreuil and Huebsch also worked with overseas suppliers to obtain (via air freight) and donate 10,000 hard-to-get K-95 protective masks for area healthcare providers and emergency first responders.
• Vaudreuil tapped ideas from a Swedish operator and worked with staff to establish a “cellular system” for laundering that separated flatwork, mats, garments and other textiles in distinct lanes for processing.
• Vaudreuil and Huebsch earned a 2022 Paragon Award from the Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corp. in recognition of the company’s positive impact on the economy in Eau Claire County.
• Vaudreuil and Huebsch earned a Sustainability Award in 2018 from the Eau Claire City council for excellence in environmental conservation, including its installation of solar panels on its building.
• Vaudreuil and Huebsch earned a Business of the Year Award in 2022 from the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce for the company’s positive impact on the local economy and community.

Vaudreuil joins a prestigious list of past award winners that includes:

2022: Brian O’Neil – California Linen, Pasadena, CA

2020: Bob Brill – Republic Master Chefs/American Textile Maintenance, Los Angeles, CA

2019: Tom Watts – Prudential Overall Supply, Irvine, CA

2018: Steve Larson – Alsco Inc., Salt Lake City, UT

2017: Ronald Croatti – UniFirst Corp., Wilmington, MA

2016: Steve Bryant – Wildman Uniform & Linen, Warsaw, IN

2014: Michael Potack – Unitex Textile Rental Services, Mount Vernon, NY

2013: Richard Senior – Morgan Services, Chicago, IL

2012: Jerry Ostrow – CleanCare, Pittsburgh, PA

2011: Patrick Dempsey – Dempsey Uniform & Linen, Jessup, PA

2011: Larry Steiner – AmeriPride Services, Minnetonka, MN

2009: Tommy Coyne – Coyne Textile Services, Syracuse, NY

2007: Donald Struminger – Mohenis Services Inc., Petersburg, VA

2005: Richard Fink – G&K Services, Minneapolis, MN

2004: Jack Spence – Faultless Laundry Co., Kansas City, MO

2003: Steve Fellman – GKG Law PC, Washington, DC

2002: Max Stettner – Penn Linen & Uniform, Allentown, PA

2001: Roger Cocivera – Penn Healthcare, Allentown, PA

2001: Travis Keeler – Overall Laundry Services, Everett, WA

2000: W.R. “Bob” Crawford – American Linen, New Haven, CT

2000: Tom Hammer – Shasta Linen Supply Inc., Sacramento, CA

1999: Daniel Cohen – Star Uniform Service, Dallas, TX

1999: Ronald Cohen – Star Uniform Service, Dallas, TX

1998: Michael Flynn – Textilease Corp., Beltsville, MD

1996: Eric Peterson – Standard Uniform Services, Charlotte, NC

1995: Kenneth Coor – Textilease Corp., Goldsboro, NC

1994: Alan Cobb – Alltex Uniform Rental Service, Manchester, NH

1994: Arthur Cobb – Tri-State Industrial Laundries, Utica, NY

1993: Aldo Croatti – UniFirst Corp., Wilmington, MA

1992: J. Stanley Coyne – Coyne Textile Services, Syracuse, NY

1990: Manfred Tidor – Standard Uniform Services, Wellesley, MA

1989: Mervyn “Bud” Sluizer – Institute of Industrial Launderers, Washington, DC

1988: Gerald Stempler – Textilease Corp., Beltsville, MD

1986: Regis Larkin – Textilease Corp., Beltsville, MD

1985: Donald Buik – Roscoe Co., Chicago, IL

1983: Herman Hoekstra – Hoekstra Uniform Rental Service, South Holland, IL

1982: Lloyd Fishman – Alltex Uniform Rental Service, Manchester, NH

For more information and to register for TRSA’s 110th Annual Conference, visit www.trsa.org/annualconference. Register by Sept. 1 to save $100 and secure discounted pricing on your hotel room by booking by Sept. 8.