an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . october 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message cintas corporation type public traded as nasdaq ctas s & p 500 component industry service headquarters mason ohio u.s. key people richard farmer chairman emeritus ; scott farmer ceo ; j. phillip holloman president & coo ; robert j. kohlhepp chairman of the board revenue us 4 316.471 million 2013 1 us 4 102.0 million 2012 1 operating income us 565.211 million 2013 1 us 539.627 million 2012 1 net income us 315.442 million 2013 1 us 297.637 million 2012 1 total assets us 4 345.632 million 2013 2 us 4 165.706 million 2012 1 total equity us 2 201.492 million 2013 1 us 2 139.135 million 2012 1 number of employees 30 000 website www.cintas.com cintas delivery truck ann arbor michigan cintas corporation s nt s is an american company with headquarters in cincinnati ohi that provides specialized services to businesses primarily in north america . the firm designs manufactures and implements corporate identity uniform programs and provides entrance mats restroom cleaning and supplies tile and carpet cleaning promotional products first aid safety and fire protection products and services . 4 cintas is a publicly held company traded on the nasdaq global select market under the symbol ctas and is a component of the standard & poor s 500 index . the company is the largest in the industry with approximately 30 000 employees . the company has grown consistently for the past nine years . both in operations and acquisitions . revenue in fiscal year 2012 was 4.1 billion and net income was 297.6 million . 5 fortune in the united states named cintas among its most admired companies for eight consecutive years 6 and report on business magazine named the company one of canada s best employers . 7 cintas has been featured on episodes of the reality television series bar rescue 8 and hotel impossible 9 contents 1 history 2 criticism 3 references 4 external links history edit cintas corporation began in 1929 as the acme industrial laundry company by richard doc farmer . he collected chemical soaked rags from factories and washed and returned them to customers for a fee . in the early 40 s rags were replaced by shop towels which are uniform in size and shape and much more absorbent than old rags and tablecloths . by then the company s name had changed to acme wiper and industrial laundry . his grandson richard t. farmer joined the family business in 1956 after graduating from miami university in oxford ohio . acme had just 15 employees at the time . dick helped uniform rental sales increase from 300 000 in 1959 to 847 000 in 1963 . he then put together a business plan to open small uniform rental plants all over the united states . the first opened in cleveland in october 1968 . in 1972 the company changed its name to cintas and then went public in 1983 . farmer also tried products that were new at the time such as fabrics that resisted wrinkles and stains to grow the company to an almost 30 percent market share in uniforms . cintas recent growth has been primarily through its acquisition of more than 220 companies eliminating overheads and cutting costs . today cintas has bought itself into markets such as first aid and safety fire protection facility services and tile and carpet cleaning . the company is now estimated to be worth 4.476 billion us dollars criticism edit in 2003 unite here and the international brotherhood of the teamsters have been engaged in a campaign against cintas alleging unfair labor practices . unite obtained license numbers of cintas workers in pennsylvania to contact them at home and has since been ordered to pay the workers 2 500 each . the ruling was subsequently upheld by the u.s. court of appeals for the third circuit . 10 following the death of a tulsa oklahoma worker in march 2007 both unions and several members of congress have called for stricter health and safety standards at the company s laundries . 11 12 in may 2007 cintas hired a washington d.c. based lobbying firm the podesta group to manage their relations with congress . 13 references edit a b c d e f g h i cintas corp 2013 annual report form 10 k xbrl . united states securities and exchange commission . july 30 2013 . cintas corp 2014 q3 quarterly report form 10 q xbrl . united states securities and exchange commission . april 9 2014 . company profile for cintas corp ctas . retrieved 2008 10 23 . the service professionals . cintas . retrieved 2016 07 08 . the service professionals . cintas . retrieved 2016 07 08 . http www.cintas.com company news media press releases fortune award08.aspx http www.cintas.com company news media press releases best employer canada 2008 . aspx issa the worldwide cleaning industry association . issa.com . retrieved 2016 07 08 . 1 dead link http news.cincinnati.com article 20090407 biz01 904080321 1 today sewell dan 2007 03 17 . federal court cintas policy violated rights . the cincinnati post associated press . e. w. scripps company . archived from the original on 2007 03 25 . house leaders want cintas inquiry fsm the source for workplace safety external links edit cintas corporate website companies portal retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title cintas & oldid 744259513 categories companies established in 1929companies based in cincinnatiwarren county ohiocompanies listed on nasdaq1929 establishments in ohiohidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from july 2016articles with a promotional tone from october 2016all articles with a promotional tonepages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main 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