84 | Business World Magazine |
November 2013
product needs to be cleaned, whether it is
the towel or bed linen at a hotel or a hospi-
tal, we may not always consider the innova-
tions of engineering, chemical formulations
and wondrous workforce that toils to ensure
that product is not only clean, but safe for
use. Textile services impact every single one
us and from the manufacturing, supplying
and cleaning of service-sector uniforms and
garments to restaurant supplies and hospital
linens, it’s an industry that that has produced
hundreds of thousands jobs. This industry
supplies uniforms to more than 20 million
U.S. workers in all industries as well as lin-
ens and towels to hundreds of thousands of
healthcare and hospitality facilities.
Over the last hundred years, the Textile
Rental Services Association (TRSA) has
served by providing advocacy, research, edu-
cation and communications, as well as by cre-
ating the professional certification standards,
which all collectively contributes to the op-
erational productivity, safety and sustainabil-
ity of the textiles industry. The TRSA’s ori-
gins date back to 1912 when the Ohio Board
of Health passed such restricting regulations
on rental towels, it threatened to wipe away
much of the workforce in the linen supply in-
dustry. Industry operators banded together
to create what was then known as the Ohio
Linen Supply Association. Over the next few
years, this group attracted such interest and
