What does it take to lead a 116-year-old textile company into the modern era without losing what made it great in the first place? We sat down with Jeff Courey, CEO of George Courey Inc., for our most candid conversation yet on the Behind the Seams podcast. In a special "Ask the CEO" segment, Jeff answered questions submitted directly by our followers, customers, and industry peers.
From family business values and healthcare textile misconceptions to surgical gown safety and the future of hospitality linens, Jeff held nothing back. Here's a full breakdown of what he had to say.
Balancing Growth While Keeping Family Business Culture Alive
One of the most common questions we received was about how George Courey Inc. maintains its family business culture as the company continues to scale.
Jeff's answer was straightforward: accessibility is everything.
"Every customer should feel like they can reach the leader of the business." Jeff explained.
In an era where large corporations feel increasingly impersonal, this philosophy sets George Courey Inc. apart. Whether you're a hospital system procuring reusable surgical textiles or a vacation rental company looking for premium bed linens, you can always reach the people the right person.
For any textile supplier or any business for that matter this kind of flat, accessible leadership is a competitive advantage that's hard to replicate.
The Biggest Mistake Companies Make When Scaling Too Fast
Jeff was direct when asked about the most common pitfall of rapid business growth: confusing revenue with progress.
"Revenue growth without profitability to back it is nothing to high-five about," he said. "Maturing as a company means not just revenue growth but doing things the right way in a larger manner."
His advice? Celebrate improved processes. Celebrate operational efficiencies. Celebrate the SOPs that make your business more sustainable long-term. In the textile industry where supply chain management, inventory planning, and logistics are mission-critical, this philosophy rings especially true.
Sustainable growth in the hospitality textile and healthcare linen supply business isn't just about landing new accounts. It's about building systems that can reliably serve those accounts for years to come.
Leadership Lessons Passed Down Through Generations
When asked about the most valuable lesson inherited from previous generations of the Courey family, Jeff shared two that have stayed with him throughout his leadership journey.
1. Don't get too high on the highs or too low on the lows.
"As a CEO, as a leader, it's important for the whole team to rally behind that kind of sentiment," Jeff said. Keeping an even keel, especially in a cyclical industry like textiles and institutional laundry is what keeps teams motivated and focused through market ups and downs.
2. Your reputation is everything and it can be lost instantly.
"A company's reputation is built over decades, but it can be destroyed in an instant," Jeff noted. For George Courey Inc., 116 years of delivering quality healthcare textiles, hospitality linens, and institutional laundry products is the foundation of every new relationship we build. That's not something we take lightly.
How COVID Changed the Hospitality Textile Industry Forever
The pandemic reshaped the hospitality industry in ways that are still being felt today. When asked how it changed the way hotels and hospitality providers think about textiles, Jeff pointed to one major shift: deliberateness.
"Hotels had to very quickly figure out how to become more efficient. A towel is not just a towel, a sheet is not just a sheet, especially the efficiency of how we change over a room."
Post-COVID, hotel operators, property managers, and hospitality procurement teams are analyzing everything: sheet sizes, folding efficiency, visual presentation, cost-per-use, and wash-cycle durability. The days of treating linens as a commodity are over. Hotel linens and hospitality textiles are now a strategic business decision.
At George Courey Inc., we've been ahead of this shift for years offering hospitality linen programs designed for durability, visual appeal, and long-term cost efficiency for laundries and hotels alike.
The Biggest Misconception About Reusable Healthcare Textiles
This is one we're passionate about. The healthcare textile industry still faces a major uphill battle against single-use disposable products, and the reason often comes down to one word: perception.
"The biggest misconception is that something that's been used is somehow not clean or not hygienic and that's just false," Jeff explained.
The reality is that professional healthcare laundries operate under extraordinarily rigorous standards. Certifications like HLAC (Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council) and Hygienically Clean exist precisely to validate the safety and cleanliness of reusable healthcare textiles. These are large-scale manufacturing operations that follow strict protocols, use advanced chemistry, and document every step of the wash and sterilization process.
When you compare that to a disposable product manufactured overseas with minimal traceability, the reusable option often wins on both safety and hygiene. The data backs it up. So does the cost analysis.
The Most Underrated Healthcare Textile Product
Ask anyone in the industry and they probably won't say this one, but Jeff's answer was clear: underpads.
"When there's no underpad on the bed, there's problems. That's an existing incontinent patient," Jeff said. "A good underpad is definitely an unheralded product and it is very, very important."
It's a perfect example of the invisible work that healthcare textiles do every day. When everything is in place and functioning properly, no one notices. The moment something is missing or underperforms, it becomes a very visible problem very quickly. This is why product quality, consistency, and reliable supply chain management matter so deeply in the healthcare linen industry.
The Underlying Issue Facing Healthcare Today: Reactive vs. Preventive
Jeff didn't mince words on this one. The healthcare industry, globally, still operates too reactively when it comes to infectious disease preparedness and PPE readiness.
"I don't think the industry has fully learned its lesson from COVID in the sense of taking measures to be more preventative instead of being reactionary," he said.
With emerging health threats continuing to surface, the lesson is clear: hospitals, healthcare systems, and institutional laundries need to build up their PPE inventory, their isolation gown supply chains, and their reusable textile programs before the next crisis hits not after.
At George Courey Inc., we've long advocated for building supply chain resilience in healthcare textiles. It's not just good business; it's a patient safety issue.
Reusable Surgical Gowns and Drapes: Setting the Record Straight
Similar to general healthcare textiles, reusable surgical gowns and drapes are often misunderstood. The misconception that reusable surgical products are somehow less safe than single-use alternatives couldn't be further from the truth.
"If people saw the supply chain and everything that goes into getting a reusable surgical product into the operating room, they'd be surprised with the level of attention to quality control and quality assurance," Jeff said.
At the manufacturing level and at the laundry level, reusable surgical gowns and drapes go through an extensive, documented quality and sterilization process before they ever reach an operating room. Everything is checked, double-checked, and verified against the highest standards in the industry.
The result? A product that is sterile, sustainable, and more cost-effective over its lifecycle than its disposable counterpart. The environmental benefits alone, reduced landfill waste, lower carbon footprint per use make reusable surgical textiles the responsible choice for health systems committed to sustainability.
What Surprises People Most About the Textile Industry
Here's one most people outside the industry don't know: white is the hardest color to consistently replicate.
"A white towel is not just a white towel. White is the hardest color to replicate over and over again with consistency," Jeff explained.
In hospitality, bright white linens signal cleanliness, luxury, and trust to every guest who walks into a hotel room or vacation rental property. Maintaining that consistency across thousands of wash cycles requires precision manufacturing, quality raw materials, and rigorous quality control all things George Courey Inc. has spent over a century perfecting.
On the healthcare side, another surprise: most hospitals don't own their general linen. The majority rent from professional laundry services that manage the full lifecycle of the product, including sophisticated tracking systems, RFID technology, and wash-cycle monitoring to maximize the ROI of every textile item in circulation.
The Best Business Advice Jeff Has Ever Received
Don't confuse activity with progress.
"There are some days where you'll go into the office and you have 200 emails and back-to-back meetings. But a CEO who knows what they're doing does not confuse activity with progress," Jeff said.
The days where you slow down, reflect, and think strategically are often the most productive. In a business like ours, where long-term customer relationships, supply chain planning, and product innovation are the real drivers of growth strategic thinking time isn't a luxury. It's a necessity.
Jeff's Biggest Business Pet Peeve
Easy one.
"We've always done it this way."
If that's the only reason something is being done a certain way, it's not good enough. At George Courey Inc., we like to call ourselves a 116-year-old startup always challenging the status quo, always looking for a better way forward.
The textile industry is evolving rapidly: sustainability pressures, supply chain complexity, rising guest and patient expectations, and technological innovation are all reshaping how we do business. Standing still isn't an option.
A Story Worth Sharing: The DEWALT Drill
One of the highlights of the conversation was Jeff sharing one of the most unusual and ultimately inspiring customer requests in George Courey Inc's history.
A company approached them with a request to manufacture a surgical-grade Level 4 cover for a standard DEWALT power drill. The concept? Convert a consumer-grade drill into an orthopedic surgical tool for use in war zones and underserved markets around the world.
What started as a puzzling request became one of George Courey Inc.'s meaningful partnerships. We're still manufacturing those drill covers today and Arbutus Medical has grown into a remarkable company doing important work globally.
It's a reminder that innovation in the textile and healthcare sectors doesn't always look the way you expect it to.
Listen to the Full Episode
This "Ask the CEO" episode of Behind the Seams is available now on YouTube and Spotify!
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