UniFirst Celebrates 17th Annual Founder’s Day
More than 250 UniFirst Corp. locations across North America and in Europe recently celebrated Founder’s Day in memory of company founder Aldo Croatti. On this day each year, the company’s 14,000-plus employee team partners take a break from their busy schedules and join together to honor the man who started the $1.6-billion uniform service and supply company on July 12, 1936, according to a news release.
Founder’s Day has been an annual event since Croatti’s passing in 2001 and is held on the Friday closest to the founding date each year. Annual festivities include presentations, barbecues, speeches, fun-filled activities and awards. The day also recognizes Croatti’s founding core values that remain the foundation of the company’s corporate culture today – customer focus, respect for others, and commitment to quality – with team partners renewing their annual commitment to the company’s essentials of service and pledging to keep customers the focus of everything they do.
This year’s celebration also served as a kickoff to a companywide safety initiative that reinforces UniFirst’s long-standing commitment to creating a safe work environment for all of its employee team partners. Reflecting the company’s family-like culture, local leadership also highlighted the importance of practicing safe habits whether in the workplace or at home, and acting as “safety heroes” to help prevent any issues from arising.
“We care deeply about the safety of our employee team partners and their families,” said Steven Sintros, UniFirst president and CEO. “Whether it’s at the office or in the home, safety is a top priority and we’re committed to helping everyone in our UniFirst family stay safe. I can’t think of a better way to communicate this message than on the day when we all gather together as a family to celebrate our founder and the core values that make up the fabric of our company.”
It is in this same spirit that on Founder’s Day each of the 250 UniFirst locations names its Employees of the Year – the person who best exemplifies the core values. Each Employee of the Year is presented with a special recognition gift, earns an extra day off with pay, and his or her name is engraved on a plaque that remains on permanent display at their UniFirst location.