MARCH 2019
Late News Ecolab drops lawsuit against Gurtler Industries
Metro Laundry Service has focused on providing hotels the best service since the beginning BY MATT POE, EDITOR CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md. — In October 2018, Metro Laundry Service celebrated the grand opening of its second plant, a 53,000-square-foot facility in Elkridge, Md. The celebration included many local business leaders and Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford—and it was a well-earned celebration for this company that services hotels in the Washington, D.C., area. While the company now has two plants, the Metro Laundry Service story starts with a 1,500-square-foot location, the size of a small, in-house laundry, providing quality linen service. Actually, the story starts with a young man growing up in a family bent on business success.
Steven Young (left), Bernard Young and Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford celebrated the grand opening of Metro’s Elkridge, Md., facility in October with many local business leaders and guests. (Photos: Metro Laundry Service)
FAMILY OF ENTREPRENEURS
Bernard Young, president and CEO, started Metro Laundry Service back in 2002, but Steven Young, senior account executive/ COO (and nephew to Bernard) says the drive for his uncle to have his own busi-
ness started back with his previous employment—in other family businesses. “His father, my grandfather, was a successful farmer in Virginia, one of the original forms of self-employment,”
he shares. “He learned a lot from that. Bernard and his two other brothers were all entrepreneurs.” See METRO on Page 6
‘How much is my business worth?’ Many factors are involved in evaluating a linen service’s value when looking to sell
(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)
SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. — Gurtler Industries reports that Ecolab Inc. has dismissed an infringement lawsuit the company had filed against Gurtler. The lawsuit, filed by Ecolab’s Textile Care Division in 2014, claimed Gurtler had infringed on its Patent No. 6,262,013: “Sanitizing Laundry Sour” issued on July 21, 2001. In response to the suit, Gurtler contended that the patent was invalid and asked the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) to open a re-examination of the patent claims. After the re-examination and appeals process, on Aug. 29, 2018, Gurtler says USPTO determined that the Ecolab patent was invalid. “The Patent Office rejected Ecolab’s position four times, so it appears they agreed with Gurtler that the patent was invalid and ultimately that we did nothing wrong,” says Greg Gurtler, president. American Laundry News contacted Ecolab about the dismissal, and the company had no comment. ALN
Growth and quality in D.C. metro area
BY MATT POE, EDITOR ALEXANDRIA, Va. — “How much is my business worth?” That’s the question Jim Gutheim, president of James Gutheim & Associates Inc., hears all the time. The company, which started in 1993, helps laundry and linen service operations through the process of valuation and selling the business. “I try to explain to everyone who asks, including the clients we’ve tried to help sell their companies, there’s no magical number,” he says. “There are a wide variety of numbers and factors that go into calculating how much your rental laundry is worth. Volume 45, Number 3
INSIDE Clean Show Countdown Read what laundry operators say about Clean in this quarter’s Your Views survey.
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In the end, it’s just an estimate. They tend to respond with, ‘Yeah, I know, but seriously, how much is my business worth?’” Gutheim explained how laundry and linen services are valued and some of the various factors that influence how much a
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Columnist at Large In this issue, Eric Frederick shares ideas to help train non-English speaking employees.
business is worth during the webinar Plant Sales, Mergers & Acquisitions, presented by TRSA, the association for linen, uniform and facility services. See VALUATION on Page 10
The Newspaper of Record for Laundry & Linen Management
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