James Buik, president, and owner, Roscoe Co., Chicago, IL, will be honored at the 111th TRSA Annual Conference & Exchange in September with the TRSA Operator Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award pays tribute to exceptional personal service to TRSA and the industry as nominated by past linen, uniform and facility services award operator award peers and voted on by the TRSA Executive Committee. Winners have supported the association for decades, devoting their own time to association activities and facilitating their employees’ involvement in TRSA. Their teams have taken advantage of a wide range of TRSA activities, including certification, in-person and virtual events and benchmarking surveys.
Buik has been recognized for engagement in and personal leadership of TRSA and the Uniform and Textile Service Association (UTSA), which served the industry for 75 years and blended with TRSA in 2009. For TRSA, he was chair (2018 – 2020) and a member of the Executive Committee (2014 – 2022) and Board of Directors (2012 – 2014). For UTSA, he was chair (2005 – 2006) and executive (2003 – 2008) and board (1993 – 1995) member.
“I am humbled to be included on a prestigious list of previous award winners, to include my father Donald, and many industry friends and colleagues,” Buik said. “I have so many to thank, but especially my wife Teresa, who has supported and encouraged me throughout the journey.”
His dedication to furthering the industry’s best interests has been reflected in other volunteer leadership positions, as he currently chairs TRSA’s Environmental Committee and serves on the Government Relations Committee. He previously chaired the Strategic Planning Committee and was a member of the TRSA education and UTSA marketing committees.
“Jim’s leadership reflects a belief we share that when any operator makes a good impression on their customers, it serves us all well. The more you get to know him, the more you realize he really does have the industry’s best interests at heart,” said Jim Kearns, current TRSA board chair and COO, Alsco Uniforms, Salt Lake City, UT.
In recent years Buik has empowered Roscoe staff to serve on four other TRSA committees, facilitated extensive Roscoe staff participation in TRSA professional development events and led the company in earning Clean Green and Hygienically Clean Food Safety certifications.
TRSA President and CEO Joseph Ricci commended Buik’s hospitality to TRSA groups seeking to visit Roscoe during professional development events such as the Production Summit and Plant Tours, Maintenance Management Institute and Next Generation Executives Roundtable. “Jim has upheld TRSA members’ longstanding tradition to welcome industry colleagues to view their teams and machinery at work,” said Ricci. “Roscoe’s company motto is ‘Take Pride.’ Jim and the Roscoe staff enjoy these opportunities to demonstrate their performance excellence. They realize the benefits of hosting a plant tour, including building teamwork and boosting morale by putting a local team on a national stage.”
The award presentation will take place during a Sept. 26 dinner at the TRSA Annual Conference & Exchange (www.trsa.org/annualconference), Sept. 24-26, at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO.
Buik joins 38 past recipients who received the award since its 1982 inception, the most recent of whom were:
2023: Jim Vaudreuil, Huebsch Services, Eau Clare, WI
2022: Brian O’Neil, California Linen Services, Pasadena, CA
2020: Bob Brill, Republic Master Chefs/American Textile Maintenance, Los Angeles, CA
2019: Tom Watts, Prudential Overall Supply, Irvine, CA
2018: Steve Larson, Alsco Uniforms, Salt Lake City, UT
2017: Ronald Croatti, UniFirst Corp., Wilmington, MA
2016: Steve Bryant, Wildman Uniform & Linen, Warsaw, IN
2014: Michael Potack, Unitex Textile Rental Services, Mount Vernon, NY
2013: Richard Senior, Morgan Services, Chicago, IL
