Only a handful of seats remain for the 2023 IMPACT Conference! If you're considering attending, register NOW to ensure you have a spot! IMPACT not only provides educational programming to improve your operations immediately, but it will also bolster your professional development. IMPACT offers multiple educational sessions with timely topics, engaging presenters, and inspiring keynotes all designed to help you navigate your path through the new industry landscape.

You never know what will spark a new idea for you, and the face-to-face connections you make at IMPACT could have far-reaching effects on your career!

Register Now!

IMPACTful Connections

ALM is proud to launch the newest feature of the upcoming conference, IMPACTful Connections. Our vendors ASKED, and we ANSWERED THEIR CALL to create more opportunities for them to connect with customers. This program is a win-win, since laundry and linen professionals can maximize their time researching new products and services to keep their operation on the cutting edge. During IMPACTful Connections, laundry and linen professionals are paired with suppliers of products and services in a fast-paced business exchange. The program is available to all laundry/linen participants, and to event sponsors. If you haven’t signed up yet, email Nicole Morris at nmorris@almnet.org now!

Join us NEXT WEEK!

Join Jack Heaviside of Sunburst Chemicals at the next ALM webinar, Combating Rising Costs by Revisiting Laundry 101, on Thursday, February 23, at 2 p.m. ET.

For details about other upcoming webinars, visit the ALM Webinars page. Please note: Webinar topics and dates may change depending on speaker availability and breaking news pertinent to our industry.

Sign Me Up!

The American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA) Board of Directors announces its 2023-2024 Board of Directors. ARTA’s President Gabriel Boardman has shared that Shelley Petrovskis of Lac-Mac and Meredith Bowery of Virginia Healthcare Linen Services were elected and two incumbent directors have been re-elected — Jeff Courey of George Courey and Cecil Lee of Standard Textile. Their terms began Jan. 1, 2023. ARTA director terms are for two years.

Registration for TCATA's annual Management and Educational Conference is now open!

The conference will be at The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort, a Marriott Bonvoy property, in Scottsdale, AZ, June 4-7. 

For more information, visit the TCATA website.

Photonic fibers used to make woven-in labels could help to dramatically increase the percentage of textiles that are recycled each year by making them easier to sort, according to the team at the University of Michigan that developed the new technology.

Gurtler Industries held its Global Sales Conference in December.  The three-day conference was held at the Briar Ridge Country Club in Schererville, IN, just outside of Chicago, and was attended by over 75 members of the Gurtler sales and service team, headquarters support team, and management. Representatives were present from the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Australia. Due to the pandemic, this was the first time since 2018 that Gurtler brought together the sales and service team for the conference which focused on technical and safety training, recognition of top sales performers, and a celebration of Gurtler’s 40th Year Anniversary.

The Laundry List is pleased to announce its expansion into the Midwest with the addition of their new location in St. Louis, Missouri. The Laundry List chose St. Louis as its new location due to its central location in the country, which will better assist the company in helping all its customers throughout North America. Led by Gerald Snider, VP of Engineering & Technology, this new facility will provide the company with a rebuild shop, larger warehouse for inventory, an extensive parts department and serve as the home for their Service Department.

"We are very excited to be expanding our operations into the Midwest," said Brian Cohen, President of The Laundry List. "We have always been dedicated to providing our customers with the best possible experience. This new location will allow us to bring even more value. Our goal is to help our customers grow their businesses and improve their operations, and we are confident that this new location will help us achieve that goal."

ImageFIRST recently announced it has completed its acquisition of Island Fox Inc. d/b/a Health Wear of WNY. This acquisition marks ImageFIRST’s second laundry processing plant in the state of New York. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“The opportunity to partner with ImageFIRST was too good to pass up,” said Patrick Fox and Anthony Martello, former owners of Island Fox Inc. d/b/a Health Wear of WNY in a joint statement. “We share similar values and ImageFIRST brings a proven track record that we felt was in the best interest of our customers and associates to make this change. We look forward to continuing to provide world-class products and service as part of the ImageFIRST team.” 

Island Fox Inc. d/b/a Health Wear of WNY, founded in 2005, provides medical linen, garment rental and laundry services for the healthcare industry throughout western New York. The company has one processing plant located in Tonawanda, NY. Island Fox Inc. d/b/a Health Wear of WNY will continue to be led by local leadership – Anthony Martello as General Manager and Patrick Fox as Operations Manager – and existing associates have been retained.

Foltex welcomes Matt Merrick (left) as Vice President of Customer Support and Joe Chenot (right) as a Technical Account Manager.

Matt is a 10-year U.S. Navy veteran with 20+ years in the laundry industry. He brings extensive experience as an industrial laundry chief engineer, as well as in laundry operations management. Matt rounds off the already excellent Customer Support Team at Foltex with technical and troubleshooting expertise.

Joe comes with nearly a decade of healthcare laundry experience. Joe is looking forward to growing in his new role and is excited to be working with such an amazing team.

George Courey Inc., has announced the appointment of Cort Naab as Director of Surgical Solutions. He is responsible for overseeing the company's surgical textile initiatives and establishing George Courey Inc. as a leader of surgical products in today's healthcare textile market.

Mr. Naab has close to a decade of experience in the healthcare laundry industry at several leading healthcare laundries in North America. Additionally, he is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council better known as HLAC.

MIP Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Dean Johnson to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer. Dean commenced with MIP on January 23.

Dean brings 20 years of senior executive experience, including a proven track record of leading complex multi-national organizations to drive both financial results and team engagement. His experience spans exposure to the healthcare, hospitality, education, facility management and retail sectors.

Jarrod Randle joins the Softrol sales team as Manager of Service and Support, adding a new level of customer support.

“With continued efforts to improve our customer experience, Softrol Systems has hired Jarrod Randle, a professional in after sales service,” says Dave Smith, VP Sales & Marketing. “As our Manager of Service and Support, Jarrod is responsible for Softrol’s CRM-driven customer support system and our spare parts & RMA department. Please help us welcome Jarrod Randle to Softrol.”