James Riggs Email & Phone Number

Hartford , Connecticut, Us

CORPORATE PROFILE: The parent enterprise of three organizations (Ace First Aid & Safety, WW First Aid & Safety, and Salus First Aid and Safety) specializing in van-based first aid and safety services to employers with 25 to 500 personnel. https://acefirstaidsafety.com https://salusfirstaid.comhttps://wwfirstaid.comRESPONSIBILITY PROFILE: Along with One other partner for each business unit, I am responsible for providing vision and strategic guidance, business planning, financial management, team leadership, oversight, and administration of its scalability, ensuring that each team is aligned with the company’s overall strategy, working closely with each team to identify opportunities for collaboration, and ensuring the sharing of best practices across each unit.

CORPORATE PROFILE: A $500M Private Equity firm focused on target investments of growth companies between $2M-$5M EBITDA. RESPONSIBILITY PROFILE: Reporting to the CEO with a $100M Revenue Goal and 1000 employees (with 8 12 direct), in this role, I was responsible for developing and executing support, aligning a sales and business strategy, assessing/developing/hiring a high-performing team, and increasing sales from $60M to $100M.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Us

CORPORATE PROFILE: A $13.5B fortune 500 uniforms, cleanroom, food service, education, and facilities organization with 183,000 employees. RESPONSIBILITY PROFILE: After Aramark acquired Western First Aid & Safety, I was retained as the Vice President of Sales and Operations. With Aramark, I reported to the SVP with a multi-million-dollar Revenue Goal and 7 direct employees. I am responsible for driving revenue gains, delivering cost savings, and implementing continuous process improvement. The President retained me after acquiring my company (Western First Aid & Safety) to lead the acquisition of several companies across the US to expand Aramark’s national footprint and product/service segments. I led the identification, due diligence, and negotiated deals with 10 companies in 13 states. In addition, I navigated disparate and some outdated technologies, SOPs/cultures, restructured finance methodologies to integrate them into Aramark. After these acquisitions, Aramark displaced its second-largest competitor, and has since nearly tripled revenue (+271%), exceeding ELT expectations 2X. As a result, I was tasked to replicate these results in other business units of Aramark.ACHIEVED IN THIS ROLEOPERATIONAL OPTIMIZATION / CHANGE MANAGEMENT / RESTRUCTURING• Post-acquisition of WFA&S, Aramark leadership desired to combine the business with their current distribution centers. Investigation revealed product lines needing FDA approval, which hampered efforts. Thus, I created a strategy to consolidate distribution centers, presented, and won approval. I then led integration over the following 6 months, navigating RIF, the complications of COVID, and shrinking resources. We delivered immediate cost savings of 23%, fostered synergies between companies, and achieved full FDA compliance.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Us

ACHIEVEMENTS CONTINUEDSUPPLY CHAIN AND LOGISTICS• The company’s 3rd party manufacturing led to costs spiraling out of control. Determined to reverse trends, I rebuilt a team focused on identifying and securing offshore suppliers. Despite the complications of the COVID pandemic (which closed factories in India and China), these efforts lowered cost of goods by 28%, which surpassed original targets by 20%. In addition, new overseas manufacturers possessed stateside space, which enabled product storage for 6 months without absorbing it into inventory.

CORPORATE PROFILE: A provider of first aid and safety supplies equipment, compliance education, and training. RESPONSIBILITY PROFILE: Prior to being acquired by Aramark (a Fortune 50 organization), I reported to the Board of Directors with a $10M Revenue Goal and 50 employees with 5 direct. As Founder, I directed the business through its growth acceleration from $0 to $10M in revenue by building a scalable model, maximizing profit, and preparing the company for its eventual sale to Aramark in 2017. Since being acquired by Aramark, the business has grown by 271.03%.ACHIEVED IN THIS ROLECOMPETITIVE DISPLACEMENT / EXPOSITORY MARKETING• The company’s largest competitor owned 90% of the market and was taking advantage of its customers through extraneous charges, a practice that was embraced by the industry. I saw this as an opportunity and created a new marketing campaign that revealed these harmful practices. This enabled sales to capture new customers at a dramatically improved closing ratio. The following year, WFA&S was recognized in the industry, which adopted the new customer engagement strategy as a best practice.

CORPORATE PROFILE: An industrial launderer and provider of business uniforms, garments, and textiles. RESPONSIBILITY PROFILE: With Western Uniform and Towel, I reported to the Board Chairman with a $40M Revenue Goal and 400 employees with 10 direct. I was responsible for initiating a turnaround in preparation for sale.ACHIEVED IN THIS ROLEEBITDA GROWTH / TURNAROUND• The Chairman and CEO recruited and tasked me to save the company from bankruptcy after it suffered from negative EBITA. Over the first 90 days, I carefully built a strategy to navigate cash flow issues as a prime target area and navigate initial change resistance to implement. This effort improved COGS, increased operational efficiencies, and the organizational blueprint increased cash flow from -2.8% to 18.6%, improved debt to EBITA from 6 to 3, and became SOP and Best Practice.TURNAROUND / CUSTOMER RETENTION / BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION• Leadership commissioned me to initiate a turnaround after customer defection led to cash flow and profit erosion. I developed and executed a transformational plan in collaboration with the ELT, engaging affected functional leaders to execute. This plan drove customer retention to 96%, and for the first time in many years, more customers were being won than lost. The market mimicked this strategy.TERRITORY EXPANSION / MARKET PENETRATION• To position the company for sale, I spearheaded a first-time initiative to achieve scalability during expansion efforts by leveraging my industry intelligence to open facilities in competitive regions. I led all recruiting efforts to secure key contributors and won new business at a pace that displaced competitors. This delivered the expansion, and customers were being added at a greater velocity, leading to profitability within 6 months of market engagement. This was used as the template for market penetration.

ACHIEVEMENTS CONTINUEDRESTRUCTURING / CHANGE MANAGEMENT / SALES GROWTH• Plant Operations, Route Sales, and Field Sales teams were escalating for a decade, and competitors were lean, resulting in a higher revenue per employee. The Chairman and CEO recruited me to restore order. I devised a strategy within 90 days, which included instituting daily KPIs, revamping compensation and bonus structures, reducing route trucks by 6%, shortening the workweek from 5 to 4 days, and offering incentives to meet targets, then executed it over 4 years. This increased sales per day by 21%, with the average sale increasing by 34%.TEAM BUILDING / MENTORING• After ~7 years of attempts to improve customer and employee retention, the Chairman and CEO charged me to intervene. Over 60 days, I led a structural transformation that divided the company into districts, with district leadership, and navigated change resistance to hold the workforce accountable. I then promoted key individuals who embraced the goals during execution. This caused the whole employee base to see the possibilities and overall engagement soared, reducing attrition by 18%, elevating customer loyalty 7%, and increasing sales 34%.

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, Political Science

Mba Masters Of International Business, Masters Of International Business Administration