Forbes Lists Cintas Among America's Best Managed Companies

CINCINNATI , January 8, 2004 - Cintas Corporation (Nasdaq: CTAS) was listed among America 's "Best Managed" companies in the January edition of Forbes Magazine. Writers and editors identified Cintas, and other companies from twenty-six industries, as "solid achievers" and "companies that exude excellence - in how they're managed and in financial performance."

"Our company culture and values drive our performance," said Cintas CEO Scott Farmer. "Those values influence every decision we make at Cintas. This recognition is a testament to our Cintas culture and our employee-partners' commitment to our customers and shareholders."

To create the list, Forbes evaluated 1,000 public companies with at least $1 billion in revenue and a minimum stock price of $5. Those companies were placed into 26 core industry categories and ranked against their peers using the following criteria: Five-year total return, long and short-term sales, earnings growth, and long-term earnings forecasts. Top-tier companies in each industry were evaluated on other factors that include market leadership, innovation, and efficiency.

Forbes Magazine also named Cintas one of the "Best Big Companies in the World" each year from 1999-2003, and the company was recently named the fourth best employer in Canada by Report on Business Magazine. Cintas received the Matthew 25: Ministries Corporate Humanitarian Award and the Massachusetts Exemplary Employer Award in 2003, and was named one of America 's most admired companies by Fortune Magazine.

Contact:
Bill Gale
Senior Vice President Finance and CFO
Cintas Corporation
513-573-4211
galeb@cintas.com

About Cintas
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types throughout North America. Cintas designs, manufactures and implements corporate identity uniform programs, provides entrance mats, restroom supplies, promotional products and first aid and safety products and services for more than 500,000 businesses. Cintas is a publicly held company traded over the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol CTAS, and is a Nasdaq-100 company and component of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. The Company has achieved 34 consecutive years of growth in sales and earnings, to date.