Rural/Metro Corporation (NASDAQ: RURL) announced today that the Tacoma, Washington, City Council voted unanimously this week to renew the Company’s contract as the exclusive provider of 911 ambulance services.
Jack Brucker, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are honored to continue serving the City of Tacoma and look forward to another year of exceptional service to the citizens of this growing community. We are focused on the delivery of responsive, reliable, efficient ambulance services and believe this approach is the foundation for our continuing success.”
Rural/Metro was first awarded the Tacoma 911 contract in 2004, following a decision by city leaders to consolidate emergency ambulance services under one provider. The contract renewal awarded this week represents the second of three 1-year extension terms. The 911 contract alone generates an estimated $4.0 million annually.
Boo Heffner, President of the Company’s West Emergency Services Group, said, “We are proud to be the trusted 911 partner to the City of Tacoma and the Tacoma Fire Department and remain committed to providing the highest levels of care and service to our patients and customers.”
Tacoma is Washington’s third-largest city and is home to more than 200,000 residents. Rural/Metro employs 135 ambulance service professionals in the area who provide more than 30,000 patient transports each year.
Roger Edington, Medical Services Officer and Contract Administrator for the Tacoma Fire Department, said, “We continue to appreciate Rural/Metro’s efforts to provide quality service to the citizens of Tacoma. Rural/Metro-Tacoma continues to meet our high performance levels, and this has helped the Tacoma Fire Department to continue to provide excellent service to our citizen calls for medical assistance.”
About Rural/Metro
Rural/Metro Corporation provides emergency and non-emergency ambulance services and private fire protection services in 22 states and approximately 400 communities throughout the United States. For more information, visit the Company’s web site at www.ruralmetro.com.
SAFE HARBOR PROVISIONS FOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the company’s ability to collect its accounts receivable, secure new contracts, retain existing contracts, and improve earnings and operating margins. Although Rural/Metro believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct.
Reference is made to a more complete discussion of forward-looking statements and applicable risks that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements (“Cautionary Statements”) that include, among others, those identified under the captions “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007, which is available free of charge on the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) at www.sec.gov or on the Company’s website at www.ruralmetro.com. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements (or statements that may be attributed to the Company) are expressly qualified by the Cautionary Statements. The Company’s forward-looking statements are based on information available today, and it undertakes no obligation to update these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by the securities laws.
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CONTACT: Liz Merritt Rural/Metro Corporation (480) 606-3337 Sharrifah Al-Salem FD Ashton Partners (415) 293-4414
SOURCE: Rural/Metro Corporation
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