Member Spotlight: Model Linen

Originally Published in the 2025 Q3 CSCNetwork News

The Early Days

Model Laundry and Dry Cleaning was established in 1916 in the railroad junction city of Ogden, Utah. In 1932, during the Great Depression, M.E. Toliver, a rancher and entrepreneur who owned several laundry businesses in Idaho, acquired Model Laundry and Dry Cleaning. M.E. is considered the grandfather of today’s Model Linen Inc., which has stayed with the Toliver family ever since. In its earliest days, utilizing a horse-drawn carriage, Model Laundry picked up, washed, dried, and delivered linens and clothes for households. One of its historic ads priced this service at “a penny per piece.” By the 1950s, electric-powered washing machines had become commonplace in homes, and Model Laundry had shifted more toward dry cleaning.

Diversification and Expansion

1965 saw another major change in the business. M.E. ‘s only son, Myles “Bud” Toliver, had graduated from the University of Utah with his MBA and took over ownership of Model Laundry. Under Bud’s leadership, dry cleaning ebbed and ended around 1970, and the company began taking on a large number of government contracts. It laundered containers full of Vietnam War uniforms and medical linens through the mid-seventies. The nearby Hill Air Force Base exchange kept Model Laundry particularly busy. Meanwhile, Bud began acquiring numerous small, independent laundry businesses in Utah and Wyoming. During these years, Bud also disassembled other laundry facilities, selling the equipment within the industry. In this way, he eliminated some of the competition and took over more and more routes. To this day, Model Linen is one of Utah’s only independent textile rental companies; its main competitors are all national. M.E. always abided by the “golden rule”: treat the customer the way you would want to be treated. That’s how Model Linen services their customers to this day.

A New Era with the Next Generation

In the 1990s, Model Linen began moving away from government contracts and taking on more clients, such as Utah- and Wyoming-based hotels and restaurants. When Bud’s oldest son, Matt Toliver, graduated from Colorado State University in 1995, he joined the Model Linen ranks and, within his first year, took on the role of Plant Manager. At this time, Model Linen consisted of a single facility and processed 100,000 pounds a week. Two years later, in 1997, Bud’s son, Brett Toliver, who’d also graduated from Colorado State, started working full-time at Model Linen. The brothers divided the operation into two parts: internal and external. While Matt is over office, production, facilities, and maintenance, Brett is over sales, service, and fleet. This division of jurisdiction and workload has proven so successful that it’s still in effect nearly 30 years later. Similarly to when Bud took over his father’s company over thirty years prior, Bud’s sons had, and still have, innovative ideas for keeping the company growing with the changing times.

Tapping into Tourism

Today, many of Model Linen’s biggest clients are associated in some way with Utah’s burgeoning tourism industry. Thanks in part to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, which took place in Salt Lake City, Park City, and other venues along the Wasatch Front. The games brought attention to the area and crowned Utah as a recreation and lifestyle hotspot. Established as a family-friendly and jaw-droppingly scenic state, Utah continues to grow in population and tourism, thanks to the Silicon Slopes tech sector, world-renowned ski resorts, and amazing state and national parks- just a few of its countless attractions.

Facilities and Operations Today

Though Model Linen’s main building is the same from 1916, the company now consists of three operating facilities. The original plant processes strictly food and beverage, the second processes hospitality linen, and the third processes garments, mats, and mops. Combined, these facilities produce five million pounds a week with 250 employees. Currently a third-generation company that’s been in business for almost 110 years, Model Linen Inc. is proud to say it’s grown substantially each year (apart from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic) and continues going strong.

Looking Ahead

As Model Linen has grown, so has the number of SKUs the team needs to manage—processing, purchasing, and tracking well over five million items currently in circulation. To improve efficiency and reduce loss, the company began its RFID journey. The big question was: where to start? Model Linen now employs six fulltime team members dedicated to this initiative. They started with one product type—chipping every item in that category— before moving on to the next. It’s a time-intensive, ongoing effort, but one that’s already making a difference. Looking ahead, the team will continue to chip items in-house, but Bud Toliver is hopeful the industry will step up to offer a broader range of pre-chipped textiles that can be purchased straight off the shelf. As he puts it, “Once you know where it is, you don’t have to buy it.” RFID implementation has already made a measurable impact, helping Model Linen improve inventory accuracy, streamline operations, and reduce waste.

The Fourth Generation

Most recently, two more Toliver’s- Matt’s son, Dawson, and Brett’s son, Jackson-have joined the ranks as Route Service Representatives. Each day brings its share of challenges and opportunities, and Bud couldn’t be prouder of the business his family built.

Model Linen Service | Ogden, UT