TRSA recently held its Annual Conference in Nashville, TN, where its new board members for the upcoming year were announced, according to a news release.
Jim Kearns, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Alsco Uniforms, was elected chair of TRSA’s Board of Directors during the Annual Membership Meeting on Sept. 15. A graduate of the University of Utah, Kearns joined Alsco Inc. in 1993 as the internal audit director and advanced steadily to his current position in January 2019. Alsco is a global leader in uniform and facility service rental and has been since 1889. They provide these services to over 355,000 customers in more than 180 locations worldwide.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as TRSA chair,” Kearns said. “Over the next two years, I’m going to focus on advocacy and the sharing of best practices to boost the industry as a whole. Our industry provides an essential service, and we need to safeguard the trust of our industry customer base and help solve problems with our products and services.”
According to the release, TRSA President & CEO Joseph Ricci offered an upbeat assessment of the new chair, and thanked Kearns’ predecessor for her service. “As the linen, uniform and facility services industry continues to pursue renewed growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have in Jim Kearns a well-rounded, seasoned executive with a demonstrated record of growth and a knack for working with companies large and small,” Ricci said. “Our thanks go to outgoing Chair Noël Richardson for successfully leading us through the worst of the pandemic. We now look forward to continued progress with Jim Kearns guiding the association.”
In other news from TRSA’s Annual Membership Meeting, Randy Bartsch, CEO of Ecotex Healthcare Linen Service Corp., Vancouver, Canada, was elected vice chairman, while Dempsey Uniform & Linen Supply CEO P.J. Dempsey was elected treasurer.
Additional directors elected during the conference included:
· Pierre Ferron, president, Buanderie Blanchelle, Montreal, Canada
· Bob Hager, president, Miller Textiles, Wapakoneta, OhioRA
· Jim Rozakis, president & COO, Cintas Corp., Mason, OH
· Kelsey Van Miert, president of customer relations, Northwest Health Care Linen, Bellingham, WA
In addition, the TRSA Supplier Partner Council has submitted Rick Kelly, VP, sales & marketing, Pellerin Milnor Corp., Kenner, LA, as the director candidate representing the hard goods category and Jake Gurtler, vice president, corporate accounts, Gurtler Industries, South Holland, IL, as the director of other goods.
