Date: December 1, 2009
Source: OAKLEAF
OAKLEAF Names Santosh Rao Chief Operating Officer
Former CEO Brings Deep Leadership Experience to Leading Waste and Recycling Company
OAKLEAF, a leading provider of sustainable waste logistics and recycling solutions, has announced the appointment of Santosh Rao as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of its largest subsidiary, OAKLEAF Waste Management. Rao has more than 20 years of experience in global technology, services and manufacturing companies. He brings a wide range of experience to OAKLEAF with proven success in driving operational solutions, building teams and delivering financial results.
Current COO Aaron Furman rejoined OAKLEAF in May after retiring in 2007 to support the transition to a new CEO and the launch of major initiatives. Furman, who originally joined OAKLEAF in 1999, played a vital role in leading OAKLEAF during a period of rapid growth. Furman will remain active with OAKLEAF on selected business initiatives.
"I am thrilled to have Santosh join the OAKLEAF team. He brings to us deep leadership experience that will help OAKLEAF stay ahead of the curve in a changing industry. Santosh will focus heavily on driving greater operational and technological sophistication in the business as we expand our services and further automate our operations," said Steve Preston, OAKLEAF President and Chief Executive Officer. "Aaron has been an invaluable partner since he has returned. His deep institutional knowledge and respect among our customer base has been critical during a period of significant change. I am thankful that he will continue as a trusted advisor and leader at OAKLEAF."
For the past five years, Rao has been the CEO and owner of Performance Systems Inc., a privately held manufacturer of racing superchargers. Under Rao's leadership, Performance Systems doubled its sales in three years while dominating market share.
Rao's previous leadership roles include, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Manufacturers' Services Limited, Executive Vice President-Asia Pacific for SCI Systems, and Vice President and General Manager for Solectron Corporation.
Santosh holds a Bachelor of Engineering from College of Engineering, Pune, India and a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from Syracuse University.
About OAKLEAF
OAKLEAF, founded in 1995, is a leader in providing sustainable waste logistics and recycling solutions for a broad base of multi-location retail, restaurant, hotel, manufacturing, property management and mall clients including Sears/Kmart, General Electric, United Technologies, CVS, P.F. Chang's and many more. As one of the most rapidly growing waste outsourcing companies in the nation with operations throughout the United States and Canada, an employee base of more than 680 employees, and a nationwide network of over 5,000 certified haulers, recyclers, and waste diversion experts, OAKLEAF provides services to over 85,000 locations throughout North America. OAKLEAF is backed by New Mountain Capital which provides significant financial and strategic resources to help continue OAKLEAF's strong growth and superior service to its customers. OAKLEAF has been recognized twelve times since 2001 by Inc. Magazine, including being named five times to the Inc. 500 List (now the Inc. 5000 List) and being recognized seven times by ICIC, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. Subsidiary operations include Valet Waste (doorstep trash pickup for multifamily communities), IEM (mall and shopping center services), WasteLess Environmental Services (waste logistics solutions for Canadian companies), and Greenleaf Compaction (equipment rentals, leasing and maintenance). OAKLEAF is also the exclusive provider of dumpster services for The Home Depot Dumpster Rentals. For more information on OAKLEAF, please visit www.oakleafwaste.com.
About New Mountain Capital
New Mountain Capital is a New York-based private equity firm investing for long-term capital appreciation through direct investment in growth equity transactions, leveraged acquisitions and management buyouts. The firm manages private equity and public equity capital with aggregate assets under management totaling more than $8.5 billion. New Mountain seeks out the highest-quality growth leaders in carefully selected industry sectors, and then works intensively with management to build the value of these companies. For more information on New Mountain Capital, please visit www.newmountaincapital.com.
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