Healthcare Laundry: Joseph E. Samuel, JVK Operations Ltd., Amityville, N.Y.
Over the past year, my responsibilities at JVK Operations Ltd. and RMK Hospitality Services have expanded to include enterprise-level financial and operational leadership across multiple facilities.
My focus has been on maintaining service continuity, strengthening cost controls, supporting complex client environments, and guiding the organization through a period of significant operational and financial transition.
This experience has sharpened my perspective on disciplined execution, cash-flow management, labor efficiency and decision-making under pressure.
As a second-year panelist for American Laundry News, I look forward to contributing practical insights informed by hands-on leadership in an evolving and increasingly demanding commercial laundry landscape.
Linen Supply: Dyan Troxel, HandCraft Linen Services, Richmond, Va.
I have served as the director of clinical education at HandCraft Linen Services for the past four years.
While my tenure in the laundry industry is relatively short, I have over 30 years of experience as a registered nurse, having worked as a bedside nurse, nurse manager, clinical educator, and quality coordinator. This background allows me to offer a unique and dynamic perspective to the customers we serve.
Throughout my hospital career, I was never formally educated on linen management practices, often making mistakes simply because I didn’t know better. Today, my department bridges that gap by providing linen education to clinical and environmental services staff, while also delivering data analysis to help administrators understand costs.
Whether through signage, videos, presentations, rounding, or blogs, HandCraft’s clinical educators partner with facilities to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate linen strategies that drive practical solutions.
HandCraft is a family-owned company since 1970, specializing in linen rental and personalized uniforms. We are proud to be TRSA Hygienically Clean- and Clean Green-certified.
With three acute-care plants and two retail plants, we process more than 116 million pounds of linen annually for over 140 hospitals and 1,500 non-acute medical practices. True to our founder’s philosophy, we continue to go the extra mile — one customer at a time.
One of the most common challenges we face is helping customers meet financial goals. As budgets tighten, facilities often seek ways to reduce linen costs by 10% or more. What many don’t realize is that small changes in linen practices can significantly reduce loss and overall spend. The key obstacle is finding a project owner within the facility who has the time to implement these initiatives.
Ultimately, success comes through collaboration and strong partnerships.
Commercial Laundry: Edward Arzouian, Bates Troy Inc., Binghamton, N.Y.
I’m pleased to say American Laundry News has invited me back to this Panel of Experts. With the holidays over, here’s hoping you won’t think of me as a house guest who has overstayed his visit. It’s back to work.
My colleagues on the Panel and I have been asked to write a new bio. 2026 sees me in my 19th year in the laundry business, specifically in the healthcare linen sector, all of those with Bates Troy Inc. in Binghamton, N.Y. My official title is compliance and special projects manager/safety officer.
Bates Troy Inc. is a family-owned, third-generation business. Our primary business is healthcare linen service of which we now process over 20 million soil pounds in our 53,000-square-foot plant. We have over 160 employees. That is up from about 70 when I started in 2007.
We are also a retail dry cleaner operating two stores and offering tailoring services. Additionally, we have a fire and water restoration service (which I manage).
My initial task those so many years ago was grant writing. We have successfully applied for grants with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Empire State Development (ESD), New York Electric & Gas (NYSEG), and other agencies, big and small, for funds big and small, ranging from a couple thousand dollars to very close to $1 million.
We have written grants for the installation of our batch tunnel washer, a 300-horsepower boiler, a new building (we actually ended up being unable to use that one), a 400-kilowatt Combined Heat & Power (CHP) system, many energy-efficient lighting upgrades, and most recently a new 100-hp compressor. I still write grants and incentive applications from time to time.
This year, I oversaw our seventh successful certification inspection, our second with TRSA Hygienically Clean. That will be 21 years of certification. You would think those get easier over time, but each one seems to come with its own new challenges. If you have done a few, you probably know what I mean.
The grants for the tunnel washer installed back in 2008 and the CHP system we installed in 2014-2015 required a great deal of resource monitoring and reporting.
On a daily basis, I still work closely with our maintenance team to monitor water, gas and electric usage as well as soiled pounds processed and sometimes clean pounds delivered and soil factors. I’m still of the belief that “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” although lately it is in vogue to downplay that.
Security and legal issues at work are also sometimes thrown my way. In my “personal” life, I’m a state constable in Pennsylvania, completing my second six-year term.
Since late summer, I’ve had to delve into human resources, trying to familiarize myself with I-9s and E-Verify, something new for me.
With a little luck, Sunday morning coffee and a little late-night wine, some of this experience will serve you with some informative and mildly amusing answers to the monthly questions we are posed.
Uniforms/Workwear Manufacturing: Steve Berg, Encompass Group LLC, Pelican Rapids, Minn.
I’ve enjoyed 37 years working in the healthcare industry, focused predominantly on the healthcare commercial laundry, senior living/skilled nursing, and acute care sectors.
I have had the privilege of spending my entire career in the healthcare industry. This has given me the opportunity to wear many different hats and gain experience with several different markets within the healthcare continuum.
I’m responsible for key account sales strategy and execution for Encompass Group’s reusable textile product category.
It gives me great value and purpose to think that I am helping my customers provide safe and comfortable environments for the residents, patients, and staff of healthcare providers. I’m grateful and lucky to be part of the mission, and I don’t take my responsibilities to my customer partners lightly.
I have two daughters and, along with my wife, enjoy raising horses on our hobby ranch in Minnesota.
Click HERE to meet the newest Panel members.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
