Tommy Coyne – An ‘Industry Icon’ Passes On

Thomas M. “Tommy” Coyne, 86, a former TRSA chair and the 2009 winner of the association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, recently passed away.

The former owner/operator of Coyne Textile Services (CTS), an industrial operator based in Syracuse, NY, Coyne retired after the company’s assets were sold in 2015 to Cintas Corp. and Prudential Overall Supply. Jim Buik, president and owner of The Roscoe Co., Chicago, who for many years served with Coyne at both the TRSA and the Uniform & Textile Service Association (UTSA), called Coyne a one-of-a-kind leader. “Tommy Coyne, like his father (the late J. Stanley Coyne), was larger than life, fiercely competitive and dedicated to our industry,” Buik said. “He loved his family and was dedicated to his community. Tommy devoted his time and political capital to both associations. The industry has lost an icon.”

Steve Fellman, TRSA’s retired general counsel, recalled Tommy as a plain-spoken leader who always followed through on his commitments to making the industry and its associations stronger. This included his long-standing goal of uniting UTSA and TRSA as a single organization for linen, uniform and facility services companies. “He had a goal of bringing the industry together,” Fellman said, noting that prior to the “blending” of TRSA and UTSA in October 2008, some companies had resisted uniting the two groups. Tommy served on the boards of directors of both associations. He was elected chair of TRSA from 2001-’03. Fellman said that in addition to integrity, Tommy brought a sense camaraderie to members and staff. “When he said something, you could rely on it,” Fellman said, adding that, “He was an enjoyable guy to sit next to at a dinner.” Tommy was less formal than some of the chairs that Fellman had worked with over several decades, he said. He spoke his mind and enjoyed spinning anecdotes, including tales of his early days flying cargo aircraft. “He had great stories about his days piloting planes,” Fellman said. “Those planes were not the safest in the world.”

Tommy started with CTS in 1977 under J. Stanley, following a stint in the U.S. Army and several leadership posts outside the laundry industry. He rose to CEO in 1982. His son Martin Coyne succeeded Tommy in 2012.

The elder Coyne, who died in 2000 at the age of 92, founded the business in a gas station building in 1929. The company specialized in processing heavily soiled shop towels and industrial garments, initially for area manufacturers, auto-repair shops and similar businesses. By the 1960s, according to local media sources, the company was serving 9,100 customers in 24 states with nine plants and 16 depots. The company continued to grow under Tommy’s leadership to 50,000 customers in 28 states. In a 2004 Textile Rental (renamed Textile Services in 2012) article that commemorated the company’s 75^th anniversary, Coyne reflected on his legacy saying, “I don’t want to be thought of as being clever or shrewd. I’m proud that a lot of people say about me, ‘What you see is what you get.’ I’m a black-and-white guy.”

From the late ’70s to the early 2000s, Tommy was instrumental in helping CTS achieve dramatic growth as a regional operator in the Northeast, said Charlie Brigham, a retired CTS executive vice president. The two were colleagues as well as friends. They completed TRSA’s Executive Management Institute (EMI) program together in the mid-’80s, along with Buik. Brigham, who also had a stint in member relations at TRSA after retiring from CTS, described Tommy as a great friend and leader. “We became not just friends, but blood brothers,” Brigham said, his voice heavy with emotion. Brigham, 83, had joined CTS in 1963 and was mentored by J. Stanley. “I was part of the family for 30 years,” Brigham says, noting that he retired in 1993 and later returned to CTS when Tommy was president. He said J. Stanley tapped Tommy to run the company because Tommy worked harder than his three brothers.

While still an independent, by the early 2000s, CTS was competitive with national industrial companies. But challenges soon arose that ultimately led to the company’s sale, Brigham says. Issues included excessive debt. CTS sought growth through acquisitions of smaller companies. In the ’90s and early 2000s credit terms were lax, and CTS borrowed by refinancing its assets, mainly to fund acquisitions. As time went on, interest rates rose and restrictive covenants – typically tied to sales volume – made the financing costlier and less attractive than before. These debts accumulated. Brigham added that Tommy, like his father before him, had an old-school, autocratic style that had worked well in the early days, but not so much with a younger generation of managers. “He continued to be autocratic,” Brigham said. “Everybody knows for the last 15 years, 20 years now, you can’t be autocratic. You have to empower your team. And hold them to deadlines.”

A third issue was CTS’s limited efforts to diversify beyond the heavy soil business that had fueled its growth through the 1990s. “He had to grow the company; that was the most important thing,” Brigham said. “He didn’t diversify. OK, back in the day, there was no segment more profitable than industrial. They were the Cadillacs of the industry. Then along came healthcare. And hotels and motels. Where is heavy soil?” Both Brigham and Fellman noted that as regulations grew more stringent, starting in the ’70s, CTS grappled with compliance issues as well.

Amid these challenges, Tommy never wavered in his support for philanthropic causes. A parishioner at Holy Cross Catholic Church, he emulated his father’s emphasis on giving back, especially to the local community. The 2004 Textile Rental article cited above noted several prominent examples of the Coyne family’s support for charitable causes, particularly in the Syracuse community. These included the Francis House, a hospice-care facility, an athletic field at Syracuse University, and five affordable housing units in downtown Syracuse. Other causes included the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the Everson Museum of Art and Upstate Medical University. When asked in the 2004 article if he would do anything different in his career, Tommy emphasized the importance of both giving back and investing in the company. “My father instilled in me that I should take every nickel I make and give some of it away and put the rest back in the business,” Coyne said. “You can’t keep putting your money in 100-foot yachts and bank accounts if you want your company to succeed. You’ve got to put it back into the business.”

Survivors include Tommy’s former wife Diana Coyne, Skaneateles, NY; a daughter, Constance Coyne Bohrer; three sons: Thomas “TM” (Amy), Skaneateles; Martin (Aimee), DeWitt, NY; and Mark of Syracuse; a sister, Joanne Coyne Matina, Toms River, NJ; and nine grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family would welcome donations to the Francis House.