Next month, Textile Services magazine will roll out a new department that will offer managers and executives in the linen, uniform and facility services industry a fresh source of insights on diversity, equity and inclusion. These topics recently have drawn intense scrutiny amid civic unrest fueled by concerns about equal justice and opportunity for people of varying racial, ethnic and social backgrounds. The inaugural edition of this new column will feature an interview with Ann Berry, one of three female members of the Board of Directors for PureStar™ Group. This company is a major player in the hospitality sector of the linen, uniform and facility services industry with 11 regional brands operating 30 facilities in three countries.

LAS VEGAS, July 24, 2020 (Newswire.com) - PureStar, North America’s leading provider of laundry and linen management services to the hospitality industry, joins the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) to host a webinar July 28, 2020, at 10 a.m. (PST) / 1 p.m. (EST). The webinar entitled “Hospitality Laundry: Remaining Guest Ready in the COVID-19 World” is part of AHLA’s program to increase awareness of its Safe Stay Guidelines for hotel operators.

LAS VEGAS—Alex Dixon, a veteran executive of the hotel-casino industry who also spent some of his career as an analyst for major investment firms, recently joined laundry services company PureStar, headquartered here, as West region president. The company provides a one-stop solution for a full range of outsourced laundry and dry-cleaning services, producing 850 million pounds of clean laundry annually across the U.S., Mexico and the Bahamas, according to Dixon. It consists of a family of independent brands, including Brady Linen, United Laundry Services, Royal Hospitality, AC Linen, Hotelier Linen Services and Five Star Laundry, among others. PureStar serves more than 1,000 client partners ranging from 7,000-key resorts to 200-room boutique hotels, spas, restaurants, fitness centers and private clubs throughout North America.

Because COVID-19 is such a recent phenomenon it’s difficult to weigh factors and build equations to solve the mysteries of how to fight the virus in indoor and outdoor environments. We need more experience with it so we can analyze it better. In the meantime, avoidance of contact is the popular answer. For hotel and lodging housekeeping, this has manifested in the presumption that staff should stay out of guestrooms as much as possible during multi-night stays, an anathema to hospitality.

TRSA, the association for linen, uniform and facility services, recognizes that not all guests want their linens changed daily, especially with the uncertainty about how the virus spreads. But it should be guests’ choice, like “green” initiatives, whether to have their rooms cleaned. It should be a mandated policy to ask them if they prefer standard cleaning services.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Laundry services have been added to the most recent advisory released by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as part of the essential critical infrastructure, reports TRSA, the association for linen, uniform and facility services.