Textiles: Mike Justice, Beck’s Classic Manufacturing, Brentwood, N.Y.
I appreciate the opportunity to share my experiences and understanding of the end use, performance and manufacturing of textiles on this panel. My passion is promoting and increasing reusable textile market share against single-use products as a sustainable solution for the markets we serve.
I am the senior executive of laundry sales for Beck’s Classic Manufacturing Inc. Beck’s is a second-generation business, primarily manufacturing reusable underpads and bibs with domestic sewing capabilities. My primary focus for Beck’s is product innovation and growing their reusable textile sales.
I have been in the textile industry for 34 years. I graduated from Auburn University with a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering with a focus on quality control and statistics.
I was offered various positions upon graduation from Auburn in 1990 including Walt Disney, Sikorsky Aircraft, and a relatively small family-owned manufacturing company, Dowling Textile, as a quality control manager/engineer. Dowling cut and sewed surgical scrubs; lab coats; nurses’ uniforms; and patient, pediatric and surgical gowns.
Obviously, I chose the latter company, and that is how I entered the textile industry. Dowling was one of the primary investors in the formation of what is now Encompass Group, which was originally Hospitex, a division of Allegiance Healthcare.
At Dowling, I became the plant manager of the primary sewing location before most U.S.-based sewing and cutting was moved to the Caribbean and Mexico. I helped manage the transition of all the production operations to Jamaica first and then to various locations in Mexico after NAFTA was passed.
For the next 15 years, I worked in various roles in the newly formed company, Encompass, including product innovation, reusable surgical product development, marketing, field sales, regional and national sales management, IDN, health systems, and GPO contract management.
After leaving Encompass and before joining Beck’s Classic, my career journey passed through other textile companies including a senior management position with Medline, Venus Textiles, Unitex International, and copper-based anti-microbial textile company, Cupron. Each company I worked for has given me a very wide variety of experiences that I hope will be of value to the industry through this Panel of Experts.
I am honored to be selected and look forward to answering questions, providing insight and sharing my experiences with the industry!
Equipment Manufacturing: Brennan Pollnow, Girbau Industrial, Oshkosh, Wis.
With over 10 years of experience in laundry sales and distribution, I serve as the national sales and business manager for Girbau Industrial, the industrial laundry solutions brand of Girbau North America.
In this role, I am responsible for driving profitability and growth across key market segments, including healthcare, hospitality, uniform services, and food and beverage. I specialize in understanding the unique challenges of each client and providing customized, solutions-oriented approaches that reduce labor costs, improve productivity and integrate automation.
What sets my approach apart is the ability to seamlessly blend technical sales expertise, hands-on support and customer relationship management. I don’t just sell equipment—I work as a partner, collaborating closely with clients to uncover operational bottlenecks and provide strategic solutions.
This involves comprehensive site evaluations, utility and cost analyses, and customized laundry system designs that drive long-term success. Whether it’s helping a client integrate automation or optimizing workflows, I’m dedicated to creating measurable improvements that extend beyond the initial sale.
While I work with a wide range of large-scale laundry operations, I’m passionate about helping small commercial laundry laundries scale into profitable, industrial-sized operations. Guiding new operators through the complexities of scaling their operations—while leveraging cutting-edge technology—is one of the most rewarding aspects of my role.
My deep understanding of the technical aspects of laundry solutions, combined with my focus on cultivating business growth, allows me to foster strong, lasting relationships that benefit both my clients and Girbau Industrial.
Girbau Industrial’s expansive product portfolio—including open-pocket washers and dryers, large continuous batch washers, feeders, ironers, and folders—allows me to deliver flexible, high-performance solutions that meet the unique needs of any laundry operation.
Over the past several years, I’ve helped drive significant growth in product development, local distributor support and overall revenue. Key innovations such as the redesigned CompactPro All-in-One ironing system and the versatile FTQ multi-use towel folder are prime examples of how Girbau Industrial continues to lead in providing scalable, efficient solutions for a broad range of industries.
As a proud member of the American Laundry News Panel of Experts, I’m excited and committed to sharing my insights and helping laundry operators across industries optimize their operations.
My goal is to empower businesses with innovative solutions that reduce costs, streamline processes and support sustainable growth.
Textile/Uniform Rental: Barrett Jens, Westport Linen Services, Lafayette, La.
I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to share my ideas, inspired by the dedicated efforts of a small group that meticulously designed and executed case studies at over 500 facilities over 12 years.
The unexpected results led to a paradigm shift in the maintenance community, giving rise to reliability-centered maintenance, which was soon adopted by NASA, the Department of Energy, the airline industry and many others.
My career spans over 12 years in manufacturing plants across Louisiana and Mississippi, specializing in the maintenance and repair of CNC machine tools in hundreds of manufacturing facilities, observing drastically different yet creative approaches.
The oil and gas industry dominates the area but had been slow for a while, which led me to explore opportunities in the commercial laundry industry.
I was unaware of the scale at which commercial laundry operates. The industry, with washers the size of train cars and dryers with big flames like jet engines, was a revelation. It brings together a diverse group of men and women from various cultures and languages, working as a cohesive family to provide quality linen to those in need, efficiently and safely.
Throughout my career, I have consistently sought ways to reduce waste and continuously improve processes based on data and principles. My experience in maintenance, reliability and best practices in the laundry industry, along with many years of hands-on troubleshooting and repair, has been both challenging and rewarding. I am excited to share these insights with a broader audience.
Thank you for letting me share in this publication. I look forward to contributing to the ongoing conversation and hope my experience can benefit your laundry facility.
Commercial Laundry: Edward Arzouian, Bates Troy Inc., Binghamton, N.Y.
If your laundry facility is anything like ours, each month when your new issue of American Laundry News arrives most of your management team probably reads it.
Your colleagues and co-workers might share a story with you. Your boss may tell you to review an article. You may send a story to your clients.
That being the case, I’m pleased and proud to have the opportunity to contribute to this publication. I hope I can offer some insights, helpful advice and useful commentary.
My foray into the laundry industry began in 2007. I got here in a roundabout way from McGill University in Montreal through sports promotion and marketing, industrial manufacturing and facility management.
In 2007, I was hired to write a grant application to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for the purchase and installation of an additional batch tunnel washer for our plant expansion. That was successful and over the years we have successfully written over $3 million in various grant applications.
Later in 2007, I was tasked with overseeing our first HLAC inspection and certification. Bates Troy Inc. was among the first 25 laundries to gain that accreditation. Four HLAC certifications and one TRSA Hygienically Clean certification later (that’s 18 years), here we are.
Bates Troy Inc. is a family-owned, third-generation business based in Binghamton, New York. The original Bates Steam Laundry can trace its roots back to 1851. The current family ownership took over in 1940.
Our primary business is healthcare linen service of which we now process about 20 million pounds annually in our 53,000-square-foot plant. We are also a retail dry cleaner operating two stores and offering tailoring services. Additionally, we have a fire and water restoration service (I manage that).
My title here is compliance and special projects manager. That includes certification with our trade associations and OSHA compliance. That also makes me our safety officer.
Daily, I monitor our resource usage (water, electricity, natural gas and soil weights). I have a daily log going back to 2008. That is done by working closely with our maintenance department. I also track and log our repairs and preventive maintenance.
To round things out, I assist with security. It helps that I’m also in my second six-year term as a Pennsylvania State Constable.
In 2024, we added new major healthcare clients, which required increasing our workforce by about 30 more employees, taking our total to over 160 employees. We added new equipment to increase automation as well to handle the extra poundage.
The challenges we face are typical of those most of us must deal with: high inflation increasing our costs and creating instability; supply-chain delays, especially for equipment and parts; onerous regulation; delays in accounts receivable; and mergers and acquisitions among some clients that require adjusting contracts, products, processes, scheduling, deliveries, and accounting.
As we head into 2025, we’re looking at a new political landscape, let’s hope for an improved economy and stability at home and aboard.
Thanks to American Laundry News for this opportunity. I hope you the readers enjoy my work and that of my colleagues on this new Panel of Experts.
Healthcare Laundry: Joseph E. Samuel, JVK Operations Ltd., Amityville, N.Y.
As an executive at JVK Operations Ltd. and RMK Hospitality Services, I am dedicated to driving operational excellence, financial stability, and innovation in the healthcare and hospitality linen services sectors.
My journey with JVK began in the uniform division in 2015 where I managed daily operations while completing my MBA at night. Balancing these responsibilities equipped me with a unique perspective on client service, operational detail and strategic growth—qualities I bring to my leadership today.
Over the years, I’ve progressed through roles in sales, customer service and marketing, which helped me develop a deep understanding of market dynamics and client needs. This experience has been foundational to my approach as an executive, where I focus on sustainable growth, streamlined operations, disciplined budgeting, and the adoption of new technologies to enhance productivity and service quality.
With an MBA in finance and accounting from Adelphi University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Worcester State University, I leverage both analytical and strategic skills in my work.
As a contributor to American Laundry News, I look forward to sharing insights on operational strategy, client relations and the latest advancements in laundry technology—topics that I believe are critical to long-term success in our industry.
Check back tomorrow to meet the rest of this year’s Panel of Experts.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
