Pellerin Honored at TRSA Dinner in New Orleans

About 30 TRSA members gathered at a restaurant in New Orleans’ French Quarter for a networking dinner on Feb. 1 that included an impromptu recognition of Jim Pellerin, president of Pellerin Milnor Corp., as the winner of TRSA’s 2017 Maglin/Biggie Lifetime Achievement Award for associate members.

“Next month in March, at our Leadership & Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, we’re going to have an awards dinner,” said TRSA President and CEO Joseph Ricci. “We’re going to honor Jim for his lifetime of achievement. It’s a well-deserved and well-earned honor.”

Pellerin thanked Ricci and TRSA for placing him in the select company of Maglin/Biggie award winners. “It’s a great honor and a wonderful feeling to be included with the five men who have received this honor before, including my father (company co-founder Norvin Pellerin), Mike Dineen, and other people I’ve worked very closely with,” Pellerin said. He also cited one of the two namesake’s of the award, Rudy Maglin, as a close industry colleague.

Pellerin, along with the late Ron Croatti of UniFirst Corp. and other honorees, were scheduled to be recognized at last September’s TRSA Annual Conference in Miami. The event was canceled due to the threat of Hurricane Irma. The formal recognition of Pellerin, Croatti and others will now take place on March 21 during TRSA’s Leadership & Legislative Conference.

The dinner in New Orleans kicked off with a 5:30 p.m. cocktail reception in a Mardi Gras atmosphere with waitresses decked out in beads and special makeup. The city’s Feb. 13 “Fat Tuesday” celebration is right around the corner, and the crowds were out in force on Bourbon Street at the start of the month in advance of the celebration.

While the dinner event was mainly designed for networking among industry colleagues, TRSA Vice President of Government Affairs Kevin Schwalb gave a brief overview of political issues, both in Washington and in various states and localities. He said he hoped the recent tax reform bill, with its new 21% corporate tax rate, is helpful to the industry. Partisan conflict continues to have a major impact in Washington, DC, and it limits the opportunities for legislative changes that could benefit the industry.

Schwalb predicted a lively political campaign season, which is just now heating up, with the largest number of open seats up for grabs in nearly 50 years. “A lot of things that I’ve been seeing going on, this is going to be a fun election cycle,” he said, noting that the expected losses of Republicans in an off-year election with a president of their own party may not be as severe as expected.

At the federal level, key issues for laundry operators and suppliers include:

• The infrastructure project proposed by President Donald Trump, which could bring as much as $1.3 trillion in funding, including an array of “public/private” partnerships that potentially could benefit linen, uniform and facility services companies. A potential hazard is the possibility that President Trump and Congress may agree to a hike in fuel taxes. Schwalb said TRSA is closely monitoring this issue and will work vigorously to minimize the impact of a fuel tax hike, if one is in fact enacted. “That’s something that our industry’s going to be watching,” he said, noting that linen, uniform and facility services companies make up the third-largest combined commercial fleet nationwide. “We put a lot of miles on a lot of roads.
• TRSA is taking a cautious approach to immigration reform, Schwalb said, noting that the labor shortage is real. TRSA will continue to work in other areas to increase the industry’s access to employees, including a potential outreach effort to veterans. Rules should be clear and as long as employers follow them, the government shouldn’t hold them liable for their hiring practices related to employees who are immigrants.

Separately, TRSA is pursuing a number of state and local issues that could have a major impact on linen, uniform and facility services companies. Examples include:

• California: TRSA is working with state officials to modify the state’s stringent Title 22 requirements that mandate that laundry operators wash textiles for a minimum of 24 minutes at 160° F. Modern advances in chemistry and washing technology have enabled launderers to safely wash textiles at lower temperatures and in less time, thus saving water, energy and detergents, Schwalb said. Significant progress on this issue is possible in 2018, he noted.
• New York City: In this “bluest of the blue” jurisdictions, TRSA is working with city officials in opposition to a proposed regulation that would limit deliveries of goods, including clean linens, uniforms and facility services items, to certain times of the day in order to reduce traffic congestion. Schwalb’s concern extend beyond the potential impact on operators in the five boroughs. If restrictive rules are enacted in New York City, that trend could “start migrating” to other jurisdictions.
• Texas: TRSA made significant progress on a bill last year that would reduce the franchise tax rate that impacts laundry operators and other businesses. A bill was approved in committee and was awaiting action before the state legislature but it “died on the vine” near the end of the session and no vote was taken for reasons unrelated to the bill. TRSA will likely take up the issue again during the next session of the Texas legislature.
• NSF: TRSA has opposed a move by NSF International, a standards-setting organization, that could impact linen, uniform and facility services companies with a rule that was designed for coin-operated laundries. Several states have already moved to adopt the new standards. Meanwhile, TRSA has received a waiver document from NSF and is working to get the agency to develop a separate rule.  “We are in the process of working with NSF and the plumbing code and the international construction code to make sure that does not have an adverse impact on the industry.”

Adding to the festive spirit of the dinner, at the conclusion of the program, a server brought out a large football-shaped cake that had the letters “TRSA” written in white icing on the front. The cake was cut into pieces and distributed to each of the attendees, who enjoyed it before heading out into the cool night air of New Orleans.