Croatti Named ‘Best in Biz’ Exec of the Year

UniFirst Corp. CEO Ron Croatti recently was named a Gold Winner in the Executive of the Year category for the Best in Biz Awards 2014, the program’s highest honor, according to a news release. The Best in Biz recognition is significant because it’s the only independent business awards program that’s judged by members of the news media and industry analysts.

“I am incredibly humbled by this honor,” Croatti said. “To be singularly recognized by this esteemed panel of judges means a lot to me, but more importantly to our company. The success of UniFirst can only be attributed to the support, hard work and dedication of our 12,000 employee Team Partners. It’s on their behalf that I am accepting this award.”

The Best in Biz program gives its Gold Award in a total of 60 categories, including Company of the Year, Fastest-Growing Company of the Year and Best New Product of the year. Other Gold winners in this year’s competition range from Guitar Center to Burger King, Toshiba and United Healthcare.

The panel of 53 judges who selected these winners come from an array of prominent media outlets and business/financial analysis organizations, including the Detroit Free Press, PC Magazine, Wired, American Banker Inc. and The Financial Times.

One judge commented that winners in the executive category (gold, silver and bronze) exemplify the ability not only to manage their organizations, but to encourage staff at all levels to aim high.

“Theodore Roosevelt once said that the difference between a leader and a boss is that the leader leads and boss drives,” said Iris Dorbian of peHUB, an interactive forum for the global private equity community, which includes venture capitalists, buyout professionals and others. “That maxim can easily apply to this year’s entries in the Executive of the Year Category. Although all clearly have excelled at generating untold revenue for their respective firms, what emerges from each entrant’s story is how deep and far they’ve been able to inspire their staff to innovate, take risks and reach for the stars.”  

The competition drew more than 550 nominations this year from public and private companies of all sizes in virtually every industry and region throughout the U.S. and Canada. Nominees were evaluated based on their achievements during the 2013-’14 eligibility period based on performance and industry norms. Click here to learn more about the awards program.