Part 7 of Cintas Chairman, Dick Farmer giving a speech at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH as part of the university's Distinguished Speakers Series on April 18, 2008. After giving the speech, it was announced that the business ethics school would be renamed the Cintas Institute for Business Ethics.
Within Part 7 of Dick Farmer's speech at Xavier, Dick starts off with important decision #7: taking Cintas public. During the 1970s Cintas grew very rapidly. Their new operating systems were being copied. Dick wanted the company to grow even more, but needed more capital.
In 1983 Cintas Corporation went public. Going public enabled the company to get the needed capital to make acquisitions and ennter new markets. Throughout the 1980s most of Cintas' growth came in the form of acquisitions.
This led to decision #8: it was time to diversify. In the 1990s Cintas became the largest company in the uniform business. Cintas had a vast presence and a large sales force.
In 1996, Cintas entered its first new business - entrance mats. The next business Cintas entered was the First Aid and Safety business - stocking first aid cabinets in the workplace. In 2002, Cintas entered the Restroom Supply and Facility Services business - stocking and sanitizing restrooms. Cintas entered Document Management in 2003 - shredding, storage, and imaging. The last new business Cintas entered was Fire Protection - servicing and maintaining fire extinguishers. Cintas is now the 2nd largest company in this business.
In the near future, combined revenue of Cintas' ancillary businesses will surpass the gross revenue of its core uniform business. There now is not a single business that could not use at least one of Cintas' services.
www.cintas.com
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