PJ Dempsey, TRSA Chair, was featured in Textile Services magazine.

In his role as TRSA’s new Chair, PJ Dempsey spoke with Textile Services Senior Editor Jack Morgan to discuss the future of the linen, uniform, and facility services industry and how TRSA can better support operators. Carrying on the legacy of his father, Patrick J. Dempsey, who spent decades implementing and sharing ideas from industry peers around the world, PJ is passionate about, “Keeping independent laundries independent: vibrant, growing and competitive.”

Read the full article or enjoy some of our favorite quotes from PJ.

“My father declined the chairmanship, repeatedly. Not because he didn’t want to serve, he did, but because his commitment to my mother, his six kids and a growing business made the time investment impossible. Today, Dempsey is orders of magnitude larger, and paradoxically easier to run, because of the team we’ve built. The constraints my father faced no longer apply to me in the same way. I believe his encouragement for me to engage in association leadership was his way of saying: when the time comes and you can do this, you should. That time is now.”

On operators and suppliers working together:
“TRSA provides the platform that brings operators and suppliers together at conferences, institutes and events. An operator from a regional company can sit down with the CEO of a major supplier partner in a way that simply doesn’t happen in a normal commercial context.”

On the value of peer networking:
“I ran into an old friend at a TRSA event, and we ended up in a conversation about RFID technology. That led to a two-day benchmarking visit where their team came to Dempsey, and we learned from each other in depth. That exchange never happens without the association creating the context for it. That peer intelligence is irreplaceable.”

On member engagement:
“Here’s what I hope my legacy as chairman looks like: increased membership and engagement, particularly among smaller independent operators. The launch of the Independent Operators Network (ION) is the most concrete step we’ve taken toward welcoming smaller single-plant operators into the TRSA tent.”

“I don’t know anyone who makes the time to participate in this association who doesn’t get back more than they gave. My job as chairman is to make that case loudly and repeatedly, and to make sure the programming delivers on the promise.”

On advocacy and certification:
“For most independent laundry owners, their business is their largest financial investment. TRSA membership protects that investment from burdensome and unnecessary regulation.”

“The TRSA Hygienically Clean brand should be the defining standard in this industry. We at Dempsey have participated in Clean Green since its founding, and we hold Hygienically Clean Healthcare and Food Service certifications. These programs represent serious rigor, and I want to see the marketplace recognize them as the gold standard.”

On growing membership:
“Nonmembers at the larger operator and supplier level are known quantities. The most effective thing any of us can do is invite them to the next event and let them experience firsthand what participation in this association feels like.”

On supplier partners:
“The most important thing we can do for our supplier partners is keep TRSA valuable enough to operators that they show up in force. That’s the core of the value exchange. If operator attendance is strong, that investment pays off. If it isn’t, the whole equation breaks down.”

On technology:
“This is a leadership opportunity for TRSA. We have facilities today that would look familiar to someone from the 1960s, and we have facilities at the cutting edge of automation, data analytics, and process control. That gap is not sustainable for the operators on the wrong side of it. TRSA is uniquely positioned to close it, by keeping the membership continuously informed about what’s possible and what peers are implementing.”

“I’d also push us to think about technology more broadly than equipment. The most transformative near-term opportunities for many members aren’t in production. They’re in AI applications for marketing and customer management, advances in recruiting and applicant-tracking systems in HR, and CMMS platforms for maintenance operations and route-optimization tools.”

On sustainability:
“Reduce and reuse aren’t aspirational goals for us; they’re the core of our business model. The challenge, and the opportunity, is external. The industries we serve often don’t fully understand how partnering with a textile rental company advances their own sustainability objectives. We are a direct, measurable solution to part of that problem.”

On global outreach:
“Environmental and labor regulations that eventually reach the U.S. frequently appear first in Europe or Canada. Being plugged into what European Textile Services Association members are navigating today gives us a preview and time to prepare before the regulation arrives.”