Event Agenda
.jpg)
You're invited to join us for 1.5 days of impactful education designed to strengthen your leadership, protect your business, and position you for what’s ahead. This year, we will place a strong focus on AI and robotics, exploring their growing impact on the laundry industry through the lens of an owner - what’s real, what’s coming, and what it means for your operation.
More importantly, this is an opportunity to connect with fellow owners, share insights, and grow both individually and as part of the CSC community.
At CSCNetwork, our members are at the core of everything we do. As a token of our appreciation, we are pleased to offer this meeting at no cost. In addition, the first 20 registrants (one room per company) who reserve within our room block will receive a hotel reimbursement for one night.
At CSCNetwork, we truly value each of our members, and the Owners Summit was created as a way to give back and show our appreciation. As a special thank you, CSC will cover one night’s hotel stay per company for the first 20 member companies to register.
In addition, breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Thursday, along with breakfast on Friday, will be provided - making it easy for you to focus on connecting, learning, and getting the most out of the experience.
10/22/2026 07:00 am
Location: Palm Breeze
10/22/2026 08:00 am
Chris Dobrez
CEO, Dober
There is real risk in leaning aggressively into AI before every bug is worked out, but there is far greater risk in waiting for it to be "safe." This talk makes the case that becoming an AI-first enterprise is not a technology project to hand off to your IT team; it is a fundamental organizational transformation that touches how decisions get made, how workflows, and how knowledge moves through your company. The hard truth is that most businesses are bolting AI onto processes that were designed for a pre-AI world adding a chatbot here, an automation there and wondering why the results feel underwhelming. The companies that win won't be the ones with the fanciest tools. They'll be the ones willing to rethink the operating model itself: to ask not, "where can AI help us do what we already do?" but "how would we design this business if AI were assumed from the start?"
Drawing on Dober's own journey across three very different worlds: specialty chemicals, commercial laundry software through our Spindle division, and industrial robotics. I'll share what it actually takes to make this shift inside a real, middle-market industrial company. The center of our strategy is building a single connected "company brain": an operating system that captures, contextualizes, and links everything happening across the business, so that one person's customer note, a plant's operational data, and a product's history aren't trapped in silos but become collective intelligence that compounds over time. I'll share our strategy which like AI remains dynamic!
Location: Palm Breeze
10/22/2026 09:30 am
Alex Baldini
Co-Founder, SaaS Squash AI
Jarrod Murray
Co-Founder, SaaS Squash AI
Generative AI is moving from buzzword to everyday business tool, but most owners still aren't sure where to start. This 3-hour, in-person workshop gives business leaders practical, hands-on experience with AI: what it can do, what it can't, and how to use it safely in daily operations. Attendees use their own laptops to work through real tasks, such as customer communication, SOPs, and quotes. Attendees leave with 1–2 concrete use cases they'll apply for the next business day. No coding is required.
Location: Palm Breeze
10/22/2026 12:00 pm
Location: Palm Breeze
10/22/2026 01:00 pm
Todd Leeth
Director of Sales, Spindle
Anders Hansen
Vice President of SSC Operations, JENSEN
Brian Schlichting
CSC Owners will gain a clear understanding of where the laundry industry stands today in automation and robotics - and where it’s headed next. This panel will distinguish what technologies are truly production-ready versus emerging, with practical insights into capabilities like robotic sorting, AI-driven vision systems, and integrated plant automation.
Owners will walk away with a realistic view of ROI, including payback expectations, total cost of ownership, and commonly overlooked high-return investments. The discussion will also address the impact of automation on labor, including how to introduce these changes effectively and what skills will be needed moving forward.
In addition, the panel will cover implementation challenges in existing facilities, integration across mixed equipment, and common pitfalls to avoid. Attendees will also gain perspective on what’s coming next - from AI-driven plant management to innovations crossing over from other industries - and what steps to take now to stay competitive.
Location: Palm Breeze
10/22/2026 06:00 pm
10/23/2026 07:00 am
Location: Palm Breeze
10/23/2026 08:00 am
Anders Hansen brings over 3 decades of hands-on experience and leadership to JENSEN. Serving over 30 years in the industrial laundry industry, he has been a driving force behind the adoption of improved material handling and automation, helping take laundries in North America into the age of automation and innovation.
Anders started his career in the late 1980s in JENSEN’s factory in Bornholm, Denmark, and he transitioned from product development to field service, before moving to JENSEN USA in 1993, where he began supporting larger projects in the service department. Anders was instrumental in launching Metricon’s garment handling systems in North America, now recognized as the gold standard with over 100 installations. Since 2018, he has also championed the rollout of Inwatec’s advanced automation technologies, including soil sorting, stack storage, and mat rolling systems.
Currently, he heads JENSEN’s newly established Automation Team – nicknamed “A-Team”. This task force of experts guides laundry owners through the complicated and frequently changing Automation landscape: from understanding what is possible, to designing tailored solutions, and to embracing the next generation of laundry technology.
Responsible for all sales activities for Spindle across the globe and manages corporate customer relationships with key accounts in North America. He brings specialized expertise in plant operations and engineering management, including production process improvements, utility optimization, and consulting services. Previously, he led the project management team at the inception of Spindle, overseeing all aspects of hardware, software, and training, streamlining installation procedures, and developing training programs. His efforts have been instrumental in the success of Spindle’s Operations Management Software in the laundry industry and in exploring its application to other sectors. Todd’s background includes managing laundry facility engineering and operations, consulting for Dober Chemical’s Technical Operations, and being a retired U.S. Navy Submarine Nuclear Engineer, where he was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the submarine nuclear power plant.
Chris Dobrez is the CEO of Dober, a global specialty chemical and technology company now approaching its 70th year in business. He graduated from the University of Kansas with a BA in 1992 and joined the family business straight out of school, starting in water treatment — where he had his first exposure to the commercial laundry industry.
In 1994, Dober acquired a small laundry chemical company, Total Textile Technologies, and the following year Chris was promoted to run Dober's laundry chemical business. His active involvement in industry associations sparked an idea that would reshape the sector: a production and operations management software platform built specifically for commercial laundries. That platform launched to the industry in 2007 under the brand name Spindle.
Chris led both the laundry chemical business and Spindle until November 2010, when Dober sold its laundry chemical business to Ecolab. He continued to run and grow Spindle from 2011 through 2014, when he was promoted to CEO of Dober, taking on responsibility for the company's four chemical businesses as well as Spindle.
He remains CEO today. Next year marks a milestone on two fronts — Dober's 70th anniversary and Spindle's 20th year in business.
Alex is a Seattle-based software engineering leader who specializes in modern operational practices. Alex has helped organizations like Disney, Tableau, Amazon, and others level up with modern practices like service-level objectives and distributed tracing.
Colleagues describe Alex as direct, trustworthy, and effective at empowering engineers to ship durable improvements, not just dashboards. At SaaS Squash AI, Alex focuses on aligning AI programs with operational and commercial reality by providing clear roadmaps and sensible governance, so initiatives survive first contact with real workflows.
Jarrod’s career in industrial distribution includes more than 20 years at Mallory Safety and Supply, where he advanced from territory and Washington state sales leadership through regional director roles to Vice President of Sales for the West. Earlier he was Plant Manager at National Safety Apparel, partnering with operations, R&D, and sales to integrate manufacturing sites and tighten quality and throughput. He also managed marketing coordination and tablet-based catalog programs for field reps, so he understands both the shop floor and the sales pipeline. He founded SaaS Squash to bring that practitioner lens to AI for readiness, governance, and intelligent file architecture for B2B teams.
Address: 10 N Ocean Blvd, Delray
Beach, FL 33483 USA
Phone: (561) 274-3200
CSC Room Rate: $279 per Night
(CSC to Cover 1 Night Hotel Stay)
Deadline to Book: September 21, 2026
Link to Hotel: 2026 Owners Summit at Opal Grand Resort
