UniFirst Mourns the Loss of President and CEO Ronald D. Croatti
May 24 2017 - 9:35AM
UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) today announced with great sadness
the passing of Ronald D. Croatti, the company’s chairman,
president, and chief executive officer (CEO), as a result of
complications associated with pneumonia. UniFirst’s Board of
Directors will promptly begin the process to select a new CEO and
will consider the company’s interim management arrangements.
Ron Croatti joined the company in 1965 and
gained valuable, first-hand experience working in virtually all
areas of the company, excelling in service, sales, operations, and
management, before being named a senior executive in 1986. He
became the company’s chief executive officer in 1991 and chairman
of the Board in 2002.
Cynthia Croatti, executive vice president, said,
“The loss of my dear brother and our company leader is profound.
His life was dedicated to the success of UniFirst, as well as to
each and every member of our extended UniFirst family 13,000 people
strong. His vision, leadership, and love for family will be missed
immensely, but will live on for generations to come.”
The UniFirst Board of Directors and employee
Team Partners extend their deepest sympathies to Mr. Croatti’s
family during this time of mourning.
About UniFirst CorporationHeadquartered in
Wilmington, Mass., UniFirst Corporation is a North American leader
in the supply and servicing of uniform and workwear programs, as
well as the delivery of facility service programs. Together with
its subsidiaries, the company also provides first aid and safety
products, and manages specialized garment programs for the
cleanroom and nuclear industries. UniFirst manufactures its own
branded workwear, protective clothing, and floorcare products, and
with 240 service locations, 300,000 customer locations, and 13,000
employee Team Partners, the company outfits nearly 2 million
workers each business day. UniFirst is a publicly held company
traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol UNF and is a
component of the Standard & Poor's 600 Small Cap Index.
For more information, contact UniFirst at 800.455.7654 or visit
www.unifirst.com.
Forward Looking StatementsThis public
announcement contains forward looking statements that reflect the
Company’s current views with respect to future events and financial
performance. Forward looking statements contained in this public
announcement are subject to the safe harbor created by the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and may be identified by
words such as “estimates,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “plans,”
“expects,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “could,” “should,”
“may,” “will,” or the negative versions thereof, and similar
expressions and by the context in which they are used. Such forward
looking statements are based upon our current expectations and
speak only as of the date made. Such statements are highly
dependent upon a variety of risks, uncertainties and other
important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those reflected in such forward looking statements.
The successful transition of the Chief Executive Officer’s
management responsibilities, our ability to maintain and grow the
Company’s customer base and enhance its operating margins, our
ability to compete successfully without any significant degradation
in our margin rates, uncertainties caused by the continuing adverse
worldwide economic conditions and their impact on our customers’
businesses and workforce levels, uncertainties regarding any
existing or newly-discovered expenses and liabilities related to
environmental compliance and remediation, any adverse outcome of
pending or future contingencies or claims, uncertainties regarding
our ability to consummate and successfully integrate acquired
businesses, our ability to preserve positive labor relationships
and avoid becoming the target of corporate labor unionization
campaigns that could disrupt our business, the continuing increase
in domestic healthcare costs, including the ultimate impact of the
Affordable Care Act, our retention of customers and renewal of
customer contracts, uncertainties regarding the price levels of
natural gas, electricity, fuel and labor, the negative effect on
our business from sharply depressed oil prices, fluctuation on our
revenue and net income from our specialty garments segment, the
effect of currency fluctuations on our results of operations and
financial condition, rampant criminal activity and instability in
Mexico where our principal garment manufacturing plants are
located, the impact on our goodwill and intangibles that might
result from adverse financial and economic changes, our ability to
properly and efficiently design, construct, implement and operate
our new customer relationship management, computer system,
interruptions or failures of our information technology systems,
including as a result of cyber-attacks, failure to comply with
other state and federal regulations that might result in penalties
or costs, seasonal and quarterly fluctuations in business levels,
any loss of key management or other personnel, our dependence
on third parties to supply us with raw materials, increased costs
as a result of any future changes in federal or state laws, rules
and regulations or governmental interpretation of such laws, rules
and regulations, demand and prices for our products and services,
economic and other developments associated with the war on
terrorism and its impact on the economy, general economic
conditions and other factors described under “Item 1A. Risk
Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
August 27, 2016 and in our other filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update any
forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances
arising after the date on which such statements are made.
CONTACT:
Steven S. Sintros, Senior Vice President & CFO
Phone: 978.658.8888
Fax: 978-988-0659
Email: ssintros@UniFirst.com
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