Lakeland Industries, Inc. Announces Executive Leadership Changes

Appoints Christopher J. Ryan as Executive Chairman and Promotes Charles D. Roberson to Chief Executive Officer

Company Moves Corporate Headquarters from New York to Alabama; Anticipates Annual Cost Savings of $150,000

RONKONKOMA, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 29, 2020 / Lakeland Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAKE) (the "Company" or "Lakeland"), a leading global manufacturer of protective clothing for industry, healthcare and to first responders on the federal, state and local levels, today announced changes to its executive management team and the relocation of the Company's corporate headquarters.

Christopher J. Ryan, Lakeland's Chief Executive Officer since 2003, has been appointed by the Company's Board of Directors to the newly created position of Executive Chairman, while Charles D. Roberson, Lakeland's Chief Operating Officer since 2019 and a member of the Company's management team since 2004, will succeed Mr. Ryan as CEO, effective February 1, 2020. Mr. Roberson will, concurrently, be appointed to the Company's Board of Directors, bringing the total membership to six. The COO position will remain vacant for the time being, as the Company evaluates the need for this post. John Kreft, the Company's Chairman since 2016 and Board member since 2004, will remain on the Board and continue as the Lead Independent Director and Audit Committee Chairman. Compensation and employment agreement details related to these changes will be available in the Company's 8-K filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Commenting on the new executive leadership structure, Chairman Kreft stated, "We congratulate Chris and Charlie on their new roles within Lakeland. Both have been instrumental to Lakeland's success across the PPE industry and have demonstrated unparalleled leadership within our organization. While Chris takes on a new role for Lakeland, he ascends from his position as CEO after serving the Company for a total of 35 years. Since his initial involvement through a venture investment in 1984 - stock that he continues to hold to this day, while adding to his stake to become the single largest individual investor in the Company - Chris has been the architect of Lakeland's global expansion, resulting in our numerous domestic and international market-leading positions. We are grateful for his many contributions and stewardship over three and a half decades of service."

Christopher J. Ryan added, "Since joining the Company, Charlie has proven himself to be a vital part of Lakeland, rising to any and all challenges faced as our Chief Operating Officer. He has played a pivotal role in driving market-leading growth, improving our already-strong financial performance, successfully implementing new information systems and other technological advancements, and focusing our product development and geographic expansion efforts as part of our margin improvement strategy. Charlie's impact has been felt throughout Lakeland and our entire industry, which ideally positions him to become our next CEO."

Commensurate with the aforementioned executive leadership changes, the Company will relocate its corporate headquarters from Ronkonkoma, NY to Decatur, AL. Most of Lakeland's US administrative, warehouse and manufacturing operations have already been located in Decatur. The six employees working in New York will remain with the Company, but the office will be closed. No material accounting charges or one-time expenses are expected to be recorded for the relocation, since the Ronkonkoma facility housed a minimal number of administrative and executive personnel. The relocation is expected to result in a reduction of general and administrative expense of approximately $150,000 for the fiscal year that began February 1, 2020.

About Lakeland Industries, Inc.:

We manufacture and sell a comprehensive line of industrial protective clothing and accessories for the industrial and public protective clothing market. Our products are sold globally by our in-house sales teams, our customer service group, and authorized independent sales representatives to a network of over 1,600 global safety and industrial supply distributors. Our authorized distributors supply end users, such as integrated oil, chemical/petrochemical, automobile, steel, glass, construction, smelting, cleanroom, janitorial, pharmaceutical, and high technology electronics manufacturers, as well as scientific, medical laboratories and the utilities industry. In addition, we supply federal, state and local governmental agencies and departments, such as fire and law enforcement, airport crash rescue units, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control. Internationally, we sell to a mixture of end users directly, and to industrial distributors depending on the particular country and market. Sales are made to more than 50 countries, the majority of which were into the United States, China, the European Economic Community ("EEC"), Canada, Chile, Argentina, Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, India, Uruguay and Southeast Asia.

For more information concerning Lakeland, please visit the Company online at www.lakeland.com.

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"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as described from time to time in Press Releases and Forms 8-K, registration statements, quarterly and annual reports and other reports and filings filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission or made by management. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, which address Lakeland's expectations of sources or uses for capital or which express the Company's expectation for the future with respect to financial performance or operating strategies can be identified as forward-looking statements. As a result, there can be no assurance that Lakeland's future results will not be materially different from those described herein as "believed," "projected," "planned," "intended," "anticipated," "estimated" or "expected," or other words which reflect the current view of the Company with respect to future events. We caution readers that these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company hereby expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in the Company's expectations or any change in events conditions or circumstances on which such statement is based.

SOURCE: Lakeland Industries, Inc.