Cintas Supports Restart of Supplier’s Operations in Haiti
CINCINNATI--Two weeks after a devastating magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck the island of Haiti, Cintas Corporation applauded today the restart of operations at one of its clothing suppliers, Island Apparel, S.A. in Port Au Prince, allowing 1,000 employees to resume employment as the country continues to rebuild.
“We are very encouraged that the employees working at Island Apparel have been able to take this next important step toward recovery”
“Cintas has very close relationships with our suppliers around the world and we frequently visit their plants and talk to their employees. We were deeply concerned about them upon hearing about the earthquake,” said Scott Farmer, CEO of Cintas Corporation. “We are very encouraged that the employees working at Island Apparel have been able to take this next important step toward recovery,” he added.
Island Apparel’s facility in Port Au Prince, which makes clothing for Cintas Corporation and other companies, sustained minimal damage during the January 12th earthquake. Since then, the plant’s management team has been able to complete repairs, secure supplies of fuel and reestablish operations to allow all full-time employees to return to work.
“All of us at Island Apparel feel very humbled that the factory survived with minimal damage while so many in Haiti have suffered so much,” said Fritz Felchlin of Island Apparel. “We are very grateful for the support that Cintas has given us and, without the jobs that Cintas helps provide, our employees would have no means to begin rebuilding their lives. We feel very fortunate,” he added.
New shipments of raw fabric and finished goods into and out of the facility will continue to be difficult for several weeks as the country’s infrastructure continues to rebuild, but Island Apparel has enough fabric and orders to keep its employees working for some time. Cintas and other customers are assisting Island Apparel in establishing alternative transportation logistics to maintain operations for the facility’s 1,000 employees.
Shortly after the earthquake, Cintas partnered with Cincinnati-based Matthew 25: Ministries to provide immediate humanitarian supplies to the country, including approximately 20,000 medical scrubs for healthcare workers. The company also provided supplies of latex gloves, first aid supplies, hand sanitizer and masks. In addition, Cintas employee-partners participated in additional relief drives at each of the company’s 350 locations throughout North America.
About Cintas Corporation:
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types. Cintas designs, manufactures and implements corporate identity uniform programs, and provides entrance mats, restroom supplies, promotional products, first aid and safety products, fire protection services and document management services to approximately 800,000 businesses. Cintas is a publicly held company traded over the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol CTAS, and is a Nasdaq-100 company and component of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
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