ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The boards of directors of the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) and the Uniform & Textile Service Association (UTSA) have voted unanimously to restructure the operations of their associations, which could impact inner workings of the Clean Show.
The final decision rests with the UTSA membership, who will be asked to formally approve the UTSA board’s action, and with the TRSA membership, who will be requested to amend TRSA’s articles of incorporation and bylaws to make way for some significant changes.
“Effective immediately, TRSA will assume responsibility for providing services for members of both associations,” says an e-mail to members signed by Greg Jeltema, TRSA chairman, and Jeff Wright, UTSA chairman. “UTSA will continue to exist as a corporation and will meet all of its corporate obligations, including its obligations under the Clean Show Operating Agreement.”
“Both boards agreed that the reorganization will greatly strengthen the industry's regulatory and government affairs programs, enhance the ability of the industry to provide member companies with educational materials, enable the industry to aggressively compete against disposables, and increase the level of services provided to members,” Jeltema and Wright say in their e-mail.
TRSA CEO, STAFF RESPONSIBLE FOR DAILY OPERATIONS
Roger Cocivera, president and CEO of TRSA, and his staff are now responsible for daily operations. The TRSA staff will be enlarged to handle its increased responsibilities. There will be opportunities for members of the current UTSA staff to fill those roles, Cocivera added.
The restructuring could impact inner workings of the Clean Show, which is sponsored by UTSA, TRSA and four other industry associations. UTSA will remain a sponsor for Clean ’09, says Cocivera, who is chairing the Clean Executive Committee in preparation for the event in New Orleans.
He says he doesn’t know if the restructuring will require the show sponsors to re-examine the Clean Show Operating Agreement.
All UTSA activities that were scheduled prior to the restructuring, including the Customer Service Conference in January 2009 and the next session of the Ehrlich-Stempler Executive Management Institute in August 2009, will take place as planned, Cocivera says.
PREVIOUS MERGER ATTEMPTS FAILED
There have been other attempts over the years to unite UTSA’s and TRSA’s operations. Most recently, in summer 2005, memberships of both associations voted to consolidate into the Uniform & Textile Rental Service Association (UTRSA) beginning in 2006.
But talks between TRSA and UTSA leadership broke down later in 2005 over issues such as president/CEO selection, budget adoption, staffing and more, and the consolidation didn’t occur.
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