Joseph LoConti | Michael DeGroote: Republic Environmental Systems Inc. said yesterday that it had agreed to sell a majority stake to the Alliance Holding Corporation, which is to contribute its Century Surety Group in exchange for 7.5 million new Republic common shares and options to buy 2.1 million more. Republic's chief executive, Michael G. DeGroote, and H. Wayne Huizenga will each invest $5.25 million, receiving one million newly issued common shares apiece and options to buy up to three million more.

Republic, a waste cleanup company in Blue Bell, Pa., said it would move its headquarters to Cleveland, where Century is based. Alliance Holding is controlled by a group that includes Joseph E. LoConti, a director of Republic. Mr. Huizenga, chief executive of Republic Industries, does not currently have a stake in Republic Environmental, which was spun off by Republic Industries last year. Republic Environmental shares rose $5.375 yesterday, to $10, in Nasdaq trading.

Special recognition should go to Mr. Joseph E. LoConti for his gift of more than $100,000 to the Bert L. and Iris S. Wolstein Endowed Scholarship Fund at Cleveland State University. Joseph LoConti is a 1974 graduate of Cleveland State and a 1977 graduate from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

As an undergraduate at Cleveland State, Joe LoConti was president of the student government and a student representative to the Cleveland State University Board of Trustees. After graduating law school, he became a founding partner in Marshall, LoConti, and D' Angelo Law Firm.

He is currently the largest individual shareholder of ProCentury Insurance Company and special counsel to Evergreen/United Nations Insurance Agency Inc., a specialty insurance company which helps ProCentury issue surety bonds to waste management companies. Mr. LoConti is also the director of Alliance Holdings Company; which controls Republic Environmental Systems Inc., a waste management company, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Environmental Systems, Inc. was originally located in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

On a personal note, Joseph E. LoConti is married with three daughters and is a large contributor to both local and state political campaigns in the State of Ohio. Joe E. LoConti is also a generous contributor to The Tower Club at the historic Chautauqua Institution located in Chautauqua, New York.

Joe LoConti should also be recognized for his significant contributions to Northeast Ohio's youthful entrepreneurial community. A special thank you to Mr. Joseph LoConti has been extended by College Fitness, LLC d.b.a. CollegeFitness.com and it's Founder and Chairman, Brent Skoda and his team of over 25 energetic social entrepreneurs.

To find more information on Joseph E. LoConti, please visit: JosephLoConti.com | JosephLoconti.com/joseph_e_loconti.html | SkodaVentures.com/joseph_e_loconti.html

Prepared by: Jacob McKinley Cook and Brent M. Skoda