Language Line Services Names Louis Provenzano CEO

MONTEREY, Calif., Jan. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Language Line Services, the market leader worldwide in interpretation and translation services, today announced long-term President and Chief Operating Officer, Louis Provenzano, will be named CEO as of February 1, 2011.  

"Lou has been a dynamic force since joining the company, driving growth by passionately translating the value of language to our customers and prospects," noted Peggy Koenig, Language Line Services board member and managing partner of ABRY Partners, the private equity firm that is the principal shareholder of the company. "He is a talented leader and the right person as language access converges with mobile communications and other emerging technologies."

Dennis Dracup, who has served as CEO since 1999, will remain an active board member and significant equity holder and will be working with the senior management team on strategic issues. As well, he will be working with other ABRY portfolio companies. "Dennis deserves much of the credit for building the company into the world leader it has become and remains a valued member of the Language Line Services team," Koenig said.

"I want to congratulate Lou and wish him the very best as CEO. Lou has excelled both in his role as Executive Vice President of Sales and as Chief Operating Officer, and I am confident in his ability to successfully lead the company forward," said Dracup.

Provenzano joined LLS in 2004 to lead sales and was promoted to President and COO in 2006. He speaks six languages and is the recipient of the "Friends of CHIA" (California Healthcare Interpreters Association) and the Hispanic Leadership Award from the San Francisco Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Provenzano has served on the Board of Directors of CHIA and is an active participant in the Monterey Language Capital of the World Advocacy Council, Economic Development leadership of the Monterey Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Board of Directors for the United Way of Monterey County. He is also a member of the 2010 United Way Campaign Fund and is actively involved with fundraising for the business sector.

"Businesses are rapidly realizing the bottom-line benefits to effectively communicating with the 20 percent of the population here legally who do not speak the language," noted Provenzano. "Many sectors of the economy already demand these services to meet federal and state regulation for healthcare, emergency response and courts. Language is still a great divide though as the world's most successful melting pot ever works to embrace the 176 different languages and dialects spoken nationwide in a way that creates new business relationships. It's a tremendous opportunity and responsibility that we are well-prepared to meet in 2011 and beyond."

About Language Line Services

Language Line Services, the global leader in telephone interpreting and language solutions, serves clients in government, healthcare, telecommunications, financial services, utilities, insurance and many other industries by quickly connecting them to their customers, patients and sales prospects in more than 170 spoken languages as well as American Sign Language (ASL) and Mexican Sign Language (LSM). Growth of the language interpreting industry has soared with increased immigration and government regulatory policies mandating that organizations provide services to limited English speakers in their own languages. Language Line Services is recognized as a trusted partner to thousands of public and private organizations throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, providing easy access to the industry's fastest language interpreting service at highly competitive rates.

For more information about Language Line Services' suite of telephone, on-site and video interpreting, document translation, interpreter assessment and training programs, please call (800) 752-6096 or visit http://www.languageline.com.

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SOURCE Language Line Services