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DENVER, CO – StarTek, Inc. (NYSE:SRT) today announced that its board of directors has appointed A. Laurence Jones to serve as the company's President and Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. Mr. Jones, who was previously elected to the company's board of directors on July 17, 2006, succeeds Steven D. Butler, who has served StarTek as President and CEO since February 2005.
Mr. Jones, 53, has over 25 years of experience in building, operating and growing public and private technology companies. He has a proven track record of initiating growth and acquisition strategies in various industry segments, including marketing services, enterprise software, and information and IT services. Mr. Jones most recently served as principal of Aegis Management, LLC, which provides management consulting services. Previously, from 2004 until May 2006, he served as President and CEO of Activant Solutions, Inc., a software company that provides vertical ERP solutions for distribution industries. While at Activant, Mr. Jones accelerated revenue growth and executed three acquisitions and two public debt offerings, and filed for a public offering that was preempted by a sale of the company to funds affiliated with Hellman & Friedman and Thoma Cressey in May 2006. From November 2002 through July 2004, Mr. Jones was Chairman and CEO of Interelate, Inc., which provided outsourced customer relationship management services. From 1999 until 2002, Mr. Jones was President and CEO of MessageMedia, a NASDAQ listed e-marketing services company. He has also served as a director or held management positions at Exabyte, WebClients, Neodata Services, Inc., GovPX, Inc., Automatic Data Processing and Wang Laboratories. Mr. Jones currently serves as a director of Work Options Group, a private company that provides child and elderly care benefits programs for large corporations.
Ed Zschau, Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated "I would like to thank Steve for his efforts over the past two years in signing new contracts, reducing expenses and improving efficiency during a very challenging period." Mr. Zschau added, "The Board is committed to continued revenue growth and improving profitability in an increasingly competitive industry. Larry has a demonstrated track record of building shareholder value in companies where success requires proven world-class leadership and extraordinary vision. We believe Larry has these skills and is the right person to lead StarTek at this crucial juncture."
In connection with Mr. Jones' appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer, he will continue to serve as a director, but has resigned from the audit committee, compensation committee and governance and nominating committee of the company's board of directors. He received a grant of 30,000 shares of restricted stock and will receive options to purchase 400,000 shares of the company's common stock, all of which will be described in more detail in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The restricted stock was issued pursuant to the "employee inducement" exception to New York Stock Exchange rules requiring shareholder approval of equity-based incentive plans.
