Staffing Industry Veterans Return to Westaff in Leadership Roles
WALNUT CREEK, Calif., June 11,
2008 - Westaff, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSTF), a leading provider of staffing services, announced today that Stephen J. Russo and Christa Leonard have agreed to join Westaff
as chief operating officer and chief financial officer, respectively.
Both Russo and Leonard are returning to Westaff after departing the
company in 2006 to assume senior management positions with Prudential
California Realty, as COO and CFO respectively.
According to Westaff CEO and Chairman, Michael T. Willis, with the
improving economy, the company is poised to enter a phase of accelerated
growth. Regarding the appointments, he commented, "Steve and Christa
not only have strong ties to the company and our community, they are
industry veterans with extensive experience in operations and finance,
as well as mergers & acquisitions."
He continued, "We believe that the industry could be moving towards
the next phase of consolidation. We sought out this duo as the best
candidates to help prepare the company to expedite our long-term plan."
Steve Russo has over 22 years of senior management experience with
15 years in the staffing industry. During his career, he has served
Westaff in two different positions, as vice president, finance from
1991-1995, and as senior vice president, field operations from 2004-2006,
before joining Prudential California Realty as COO. He holds a bachelor's
in finance from Santa Clara University and currently resides in Walnut
Creek , Calif.
Christa Leonard has more than two decades of senior management and
public accounting experience with major firms, including KPMG Peat
Marwick & Co. Prior to her position as CFO of Prudential California
Realty, she served as vice president, finance and treasurer of Westaff
for more than five years. She is a CPA and earned her bachelor's in
business administration/accounting from California State University
, Hayward . She resides in the town of Alamo , Calif.
About Westaff
Westaff provides staffing services and employment opportunities for
businesses in global markets. Westaff annually
employs in excess of 125,000 people and services
more than 20,000 client accounts from 179 offices
located throughout the United States , Australia
and New Zealand . For more information, please
visit our Web site at www.westaff.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements
in this release are generally identified by words such as "expects," "believes," "will," "should" and
similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.
All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by
this cautionary statement. Forward-looking statements contained herein
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding (i) Westaff's
expectation that Mr. Russo will join Westaff as Chief Operating Officer
and Ms. Leonard will join Westaff as Chief Financial Officer; (ii)
Westaff's expectations regarding the company's growth prospects;
(iii) Westaff's expectations regarding industry consolidation; and
(iv) Westaff's expectations that Mr. Russo and Ms. Leonard will help
prepare the company to expedite its long-term plan. The forward-looking
statements contained herein involve a number of assumptions, risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
Many of these risks and uncertainties cannot be controlled by the
Company. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited
to: unanticipated personnel developments; unanticipated delays
in the effectiveness of the appointments of Mr. Russo as Chief Operating
Officer and Ms. Leonard as Chief Financial Officer, respectively;
an intensely priced competitive market; our significant working
capital needs and our ability to borrow to meet those needs; our
ability to borrow under our credit facilities and our compliance
with their debt covenants; variability of the amount of collateral
that we are required to maintain to support our workers' compensation
obligation; the sufficiency of our workers' compensation claims reserve;
variability of employee-related costs, including workers' compensation
liabilities; possible adverse effects of fluctuations in the general
economy; our ability to collect on our accounts receivable; risks
related to franchise agent operations; risks related to international
operations and fluctuating exchange rates; reliance on executive
management and key personnel; our ability to attract and retain the
services of qualified temporary personnel; the ability of our customers
to terminate our service agreement on short notice; variability of
the cost of unemployment insurance for our temporary employees; any
difficulty with our information technology system; government regulation;
potential exposure to employment-related claims; the volatility of
the Company's stock price; increased regulatory compliance costs;
and litigation and other claims. Additional information concerning
the risks and uncertainties listed above, and other factors you may
wish to consider, is contained in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's most
recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended November 3,
2007 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended
April 19, 2008.
Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions
of the Company's management and on currently available information.
The Company undertakes no responsibility to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statement except as required by applicable
laws and regulations.
Westaff,
Inc. |
Press Contact: |
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Stacy Spivack
Senior
Marketing Manager, Westaff, Inc. (P) 925.952.2521 (E) sspivack@westaff.com
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