Merchants Fleet Adds Industry Expert Ted Lague to its Sustainability Team to Drive ESG Initiatives

Lague's expertise bolsters Merchants' $2.5 billion commitment and strategy behind fleet electrification in North America

HOOKSETT, N.H., April 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Merchants Fleet, the nation's fastest growing fleet management company, today announced the hire of Ted Lague as Director of ESG, as part of the company's continued commitment to sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives.

"Viewing corporate strategy through an ESG lens enables Merchants to engage with stakeholders who are increasingly measuring success in new and meaningful ways," said Lague. "The opportunity to do good while simultaneously doing well, is great, and I'm thrilled to lead the way with ESG at Merchants."

Lague's first initiative with Merchants was spearheading the company's inaugural ESG report, which is now available for download at https://www.merchantsfleet.com/about/corporate-sustainability.

"Ted is a highly-regarded and welcomed addition to our team who will help drive, support and enrich Merchants ESG initiatives and business growth," added Alicia Hart, vice president, human resources. "Championing diversity is a core value at Merchants, reflected across our leadership and employee base where female representation is nearly 50%, and Ted is ideally positioned to contribute to the advancement of our strategic ESG goals."

Merchants has also been named a Diversity & Inclusion Rising Champion by the University of New Hampshire, which promotes organizations that demonstrate values of equity, diversity, and inclusion. In 2022 the company will launch a 'Diversity in Fleet' initiative designed to help level the playing field for men and women within the industry.

Merchants has made a string of bold commitments toward sustainability by driving fleet electrification in North America with reservations of nearly 40,000 electric vehicles and $2.5B committed toward having its mobility fleet 50% electric by 2025, and 50% of its clients' fleets electric by 2030. In addition, more than 96% of Merchants leadership is trained in Sustainable Business Practices from Harvard Business School.

An experienced ESG strategist, Lague is the founder of MONA Environmental LLC, a sustainability company that innovated solutions to inspire the preservation, conservation, and renewal of Earth's natural resources. While at MONA, Lague integrated ESG principles into all facets of the business. From a supply chain that employed the blind and visually impaired, to generous philanthropic giving programs and scalable solutions that diverted otherwise wasted food to hungry families and renewable energy processors across New England, the company Lague built was founded on corporate social responsibility.

Lague also spent nearly a decade at Liberty Mutual Insurance, in special projects, risk management and strategic transformation roles where he frequently advised executive leadership on strategic initiatives. During his tenure, he led projects that optimized operating models, implemented performance management systems based in agile and lean principles, improved corporate processes, reduced enterprise risk, enhanced employee engagement, and innovated business, social and governance solutions that drastically improved performance for the company. Lague graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Science in Economics, and is currently based in Newburyport, MA.

About Merchants Fleet

Merchants Fleet is North America's fastest growing fleet management company, enabling the movement of people, goods and services freely and responsibly. From flexible funding, fleet acquisition and fleet management to vehicle remarketing, fleet consulting, fleet electrification, and the power of cloud-based fleet management platform TotalView^®, Merchants serves as a single source for all fleet and mobility needs across more than 20 unique industries. Merchants is headquartered in New England, has its Innovation Center in the Chicago area, and serves fleet clients of all sizes throughout North America. Learn more at www.MerchantsFleet.com.

SOURCE Merchants Fleet