ALEXANDRIA, Va. — December 8, 2020 — TRSA recently held its annual Healthcare Conference, with roughly 120 executives from the linen, uniform and facility services industry in attendance. This year’s event was shifted to a virtual gathering due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Dec. 1-3 event featured a keynote presentation by Dr. Jeffrey C. Bauer, a healthcare futurist and medical economist, who provided an update on the future of healthcare after the COVID crisis. Bauer noted how changes in the healthcare industry would affect businesses servicing the sector, and how healthcare launderers could best position themselves for success despite these challenges. To read a question-and-answer session with Dr. Bauer, look at the October 2020 issue of Textile Services magazine.

Educational breakout sessions held during the event included the following:

• Healthcare Benchmarking Survey Results
• Workplace Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• The Hygienically Clean Certification Process: Lessons Learned
• Using UV Lighting for Disinfection
• How to Build Personal Clothing Laundering Capabilities/Servicing LTC Facilities
• Plant Disinfection Guidelines for COVID-19 Prevention

The final day of the conference featured a virtual tour of the Ecotex Healthcare Linen Service plant in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. After viewing the facility, its equipment and layout in several high-definition videos, attendees were able to ask questions of Ecotex executives following the video tour.

The conference closed with a panel discussion on healthcare launderers’ response and recovery from the COVID crisis. Panelists included Joseph LaPorta, president & CEO, Healthcare Linen Services Group; David Potack, president, Unitex Healthcare Laundry Services; and David Stern, CEO, Novo Health Services. The discussion was moderated by TRSA President & CEO Joseph Ricci.

The first day of the conference kicked off with meetings of the Hygienically Clean Healthcare Advisory Board, Hygienically Clean Healthcare Users Group and a CEO/Executive Roundtable for the healthcare sector. A virtual Welcome Reception took place following the meetings. To read more about the Hygienically Clean meetings, https://www.trsa.org/news/hc-advisory-board-users-group-review-21-program-updates/. For more information on the CEO/Executive Roundtable, https://www.trsa.org/news/hc-advisory-board-users-group-review-21-program-updates/.

Thanks to the following companies for sponsoring the Virtual Healthcare Conference:

Event Sponsors

• Kannegiesser ETECH
• Laundry Design Group LLC

Other Sponsors

• Encompass Group LLC
• JENSEN Group
• Lac Mac
• Omni Solutions
• Sigmatex- Lanier Textiles
• Standard Textile

The following companies sponsored the vitual plant tour: Ecolab, Kannegiesser ETECH, Miura and Pellerin Milnor Corp.. Presentations from the Virtual Healthcare Conference will be available for attendees to access https://www.trsa.org/resources/on-demand-learning/.

Posted December 8, 2020

Source: TRSA

PLANO, Texas — December 7, 2020 — JCPenney today announced that it has completed its previously announced sale, under which Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. have acquired substantially all of JCPenney’s retail and operating assets (OpCo). The company’s asset purchase agreement (APA) with Simon, Brookfield and the company’s DIP and First Lien Lenders, supported by the Unsecured Creditors Committee, had previously been approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on November 9, 2020.

“Today is an exciting day for our company, as we have accomplished our goal of putting JCPenney on a secure path for the future as a private company so that we can continue to serve our loyal customers,” said Jill Soltau, CEO of JCPenney. “With this closing, our operating company has exited Chapter 11 and is continuing under new ownership and the JCPenney banner. This milestone would not be possible without the commitment and hard work of our associates and the support of our vendor partners. Throughout the 2020 holiday season and beyond, we remain focused on implementing our Plan for Renewal to Offer Compelling Merchandise, Drive Traffic, Deliver an Engaging Experience, Fuel Growth and Build a Results-Minded Culture.”

“We have always been firm believers in JCPenney, and are very pleased to help preserve this iconic institution and save tens of thousands of jobs,” said David Simon, chairman, CEO and president of Simon Property Group. “JCPenney is now poised for a future focused on innovation and consumers, while continuing to navigate through the pandemic. We are excited about JCPenney’s future growth and look forward to collaborating with the JCPenney team to serve its customers and communities.”

“We are excited to help lead the turnaround of a storied institution while saving tens of thousands of jobs and continuing to serve over 35 million customers,” said Brian Kingston, CEO of Real Estate at Brookfield Asset Management. “This is exactly the type of investment our Retail Revitalization Program was designed to make and along with our partner Simon we have a successful blueprint in place to deploy our collective operational expertise and industry relationships to transform JCPenney through new innovations and offerings.”

In addition, on November 24, 2020, the court approved the company’s Plan of Reorganization to create separate property holding companies (PropCos) comprising 160 of the Company’s real estate assets and all of its owned distribution centers, which will be owned by the Company’s DIP and First Lien Lenders. The OpCo will enter into master leases with the PropCos and JCPenney will continue to operate the properties and distribution centers moved into the PropCos. The PropCos are expected to complete the Court-supervised restructuring process and emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the first half of 2021.

OpCo Financing Update

With the completion of the sale, JCPenney has access to approximately $1.5 billion of new financing. This includes a new ABL Facility, which was led by Wells Fargo, and the recently funded FILO Facility, on which Pathlight Capital (Pathlight) is serving as the FILO Agent.

“We are pleased to lead such an important financing for this iconic American retailer, to not only support our long-term client through their reorganization, but also provide Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management the financial flexibility they need as they transition JCPenney into its next phase,” said David Marks, head of Wells Fargo Commercial Capital.

“Pathlight is pleased to support JCPenney through their emergence and future growth,” said Dan Platt, CEO at Pathlight Capital. “We are looking forward to working with the management team and new equity partners as they continue to implement their transformation strategy and focus on enhancing the shopping experience of their loyal customer base.”

Additional Information

Additional information regarding JCPenney’s financial restructuring is available at jcprestructuring.com. Court filings and information about the claims process are available at cases.primeclerk.com/JCPenney, by calling the Company’s claims agent, Prime Clerk, toll-free at 877-720-6576, or by sending an email to JCPenneyinfo@primeclerk.com

Advisers

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal adviser, Lazard is serving as financial adviser, and AlixPartners LLP is serving as restructuring adviser to the Company.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as legal counsel and BRG Capital Advisors, LLC is serving as financial adviser to Simon and Brookfield.

Posted December 7, 2020

Source: JCPenney

NEW YORK CITY — December 7, 2020 — ESPN, Under Armour and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) announced today that four new communities will be eligible for grants through the RePlay initiative, which helps kids “play on” by transforming vacant lots into community spaces for sports and recreation.

As part of the program, ESPN and Under Armour will award grants to help community-based organizations revitalize vacant spaces in Newark, N.J.; Flint, Mich.; Milwaukee, Wisc., and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Organizations can apply for $10,000 planning grants and $75,000 implementation grants beginning today. The application deadline is April 30, 2021.

The grant program is particularly important this year given the impact of COVID-19. According to the Aspen Institute, youth sports participation has declined by 6.5 hours per week since the beginning of the pandemic. Children in lower income households have been hit especially hard, spending two hours less on sports each week compared to kids in higher income families. Even prior to the pandemic, youth ages 6-18 in low-income communities quit sports at six times the rate of kids from higher income areas.

Vacant neighborhood lots offer great opportunities to address these disparities and provide access to safe, healthy recreation spaces. LISC, one of the nation’s leading community development finance institutions, will identify projects for RePlay and assist residents and community groups with predevelopment and construction.

Last year, RePlay awarded grants to 13 projects in four cities, benefiting young people across these communities. The program is in its third year, working to promote and ensure that sports and recreation are accessible to all who want to play.

For 2021, RePlay has adopted the theme of “Play On,” and will work to educate community organizations, funders, business leaders and policymakers about the importance of investing in sports and recreational space, even during the pandemic.

“The pandemic has only exacerbated the already existing problem of declining participation in youth sports,” said Kevin Martinez, vice president of ESPN corporate citizenship. “ESPN is proud to team up with Under Armour and LISC to enable easier access to sports for underserved youth, because if they have a safe place to play, kids have more opportunities to take advantage of sports’ many benefits.”

“Investing in spaces and people that make equitable access and opportunity to participate in sport and activity possible is at the core of Under Armour’s mission,” said Stacey Ullrich, head of Global Community Impact. “We are honored for the opportunity to join ESPN and LISC for a third year to extend the reach and impact of RePlay with the goal of increasing neighborhood access for more young people to have safe and inspiring places to play.”

“We have a long history of working with community organizations to make their neighborhoods better and stronger,” said Beverly Smith, LISC’s Vice President for Sports & Recreation. “RePlay is a textbook example of how we do it. Our on-the-ground experience in local communities coupled with the resources and expertise of ESPN and Under Armour has been a highly successful formula for creating useful recreational spaces.”

Posted December 7, 2020

Source: Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)