2015 CEO Letter

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Looking back at 2014, I'm proud of everything we have accomplished across all of our divisions. Hard work and innovation from all of our employees have helped our continued success, and we're constantly looking for ways to improve and meet our customers' needs better.

The WebstaurantStore continues its rapid growth, with its Nevada warehouse shipping almost 25% of our orders. This lets us reach our West Coast customers more quickly and economically, and we've seen sales growth increase over 80% to that area of the country. Exciting plans are already underway to open two new distribution centers in 2015, which will add over 1 million square feet of space to make sure the entire company's customers get their products faster from us than anyone else.

Our Restaurant Store division opened new, larger locations for its Wilmington and Lehigh Valley stores to better serve busy restaurant owners in those areas. A redesigned point-of-sale system speeds up checkout times, and is more user-friendly and accurate for our sales associates.

Among our equipment divisions, Clark Food Service Equipment's customers have benefited from our increased 3D Revit capabilities. Our project administration system is now fully operational, and is tracking over 150 active projects. Clark Florida completed 11 installations in 11 schools in Orange County, easily making 2014 the best year yet for this division. 11400 Inc. booked their first projects in the competitive New York City market. Because 2014 was such a busy year, they already have a record number of projects lined up for the coming year.

I'm also pleased to say that Clark Turnkey has become a preferred vendor partner with Aramark, which is one of the 3 largest food service contract management companies in the world. It also worked on several projects at high security facilities in the Washington, DC area.

Clark Service and Parts opened a new branch office in Baltimore, and overall, CSP has handled over 15,000 service calls in the 5-state region! Noble Chemical added 56 new customers, including 5 retirement communities, while Clark Fire also saw positive growth in number of fire extinguisher inspections, fire system inspections, as well as overall revenue growth.

As you can see, we've accomplished a lot in 2014. Every division has contributed to our ranking in Central Penn Business Journal's Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies for the 6th year in a row. Outside of work, our employees continue to give back to the community through volunteer events and charitable giving. We participated in Lancaster County's Extraordinary Give campaign again, and I'm proud to say that our employees raised over $8,000 for local charities, which was matched with $7,500 from the Clark Charitable Foundation. Overall, the foundation contributed over $450,000 in 2014.

2014 was also a year for reflection as my father, Lloyd Clark, passed on. My Dad and Uncle Glenn started their electrical service company in 1971, which paved the way for what is now our multi-division, multi-industry company with over 1,000 employees. As we remember Dad’s passing, we celebrate his life and wise advice: "Actions are more important than words", and we should "Lead by example." He taught us to "work hard" and "do things right the first time".

As we look ahead to 2015 and beyond, we'd like to thank our loyal customers and employees for contributing to our continued success.

Best Regards,

Fred E. Clark
CEO, Clark Associates, Inc.

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