Walgreens Names Alejandro Silva to Board of Directors; Announces Executive Promotions

Alejandro Silva, Chairman and CEO of Chicago-based Evans Food Group, Ltd., has been elected to Walgreens (NYSE:WAG)(NASDAQ:WAG) board of directors as an independent director, effective Jan. 9. The company also announced that James J. Howard is retiring from the board. "We welcome to the board Alejandro’s experience in building a successful consumer products company over the past 22 years,” said Walgreens Chairman and CEO Jeffrey A. Rein. "His ideas and insight will help us stay abreast of changing consumer habits.” Silva entered the food business in Mexico in 1972 as operations manager of KIR Alimentos S.A. Seven years later, he founded a business venture, Alimentos Finos del Norte, in Saltillo, Mexico, before acquiring Evans Food Group in 1985 with his brother and another partner. Today, Evans Food Group is the world’s largest pork rind snack manufacturer and the largest Hispanic-owned business in Chicago. Silva is active in numerous civic and charitable organizations, and is a director of PrivateBankcorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: PVTB) and the Chicago Transit Authority. He is also the recipient of several awards: the Double Eagle Award from the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce; the Latino Globalist Award; Chicago United Business Leaders of Color member; Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame member; and the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Enterprises Development Agency Award. Walgreens also announced the following executive promotions: Stanley B. Blaylock, 44, previously Walgreens corporate vice president and senior vice president of specialty pharmacy and home care for Walgreens Health Services, the managed care division of Walgreens, has been promoted to a corporate senior vice president and president of Walgreens Health Services. Blaylock replaces Trent E. Taylor, who has left his position at Walgreens. Blaylock joined Walgreens in 2006 with the company’s acquisition of Pittsburgh-based Medmark Specialty Pharmacy Solutions, where he was president and CEO. After the acquisition, he led Walgreens specialty pharmacy and home care business, which now includes Option Care, Inc., a specialty pharmacy and home infusion services provider acquired by Walgreens in August 2007. Blaylock graduated from the University of Virginia in 1985 with a B.A. degree in economics and communication studies. He received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1989. Prior to joining Medmark, Blaylock was an account officer for Citibank’s corporate banking division in New York and Boston from 1987 to 1989. He then worked as an investment banker for Alex. Brown from 1989 to 1993, when he joined Option Care, Inc. as vice president of mergers and acquisitions/new business ventures. Blaylock rejoined Alex. Brown in 1994 and later served as global co-head of health care investment banking for Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown from 1999 to 2002. In 2003, Blaylock co-founded Medmark and served as chief financial officer and chief administration officer before being named president and CEO in 2005. Also, Walgreens promoted vice president of purchasing David A. Van Howe to a corporate vice president. Van Howe, 49, joined Walgreens in 2000 as general merchandise manager of beauty and fashion. He was promoted to a divisional vice president in 2004 and oversaw the purchasing department’s health and wellness division before being named vice president of purchasing last April. He has more than 30 years of retail experience, including operations and purchasing positions with Kmart, Arbor Drugs and CVS/pharmacy (which acquired Arbor in 1998). Van Howe attended Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Mich. Walgreens is the nation’s largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2007 sales of $ 53.8 billion. The company operates 6,148 stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico. Walgreens is expanding its patient-first health care services beyond traditional pharmacy through Walgreens Health Services, its managed care division, and Take Care Health Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary that manages 136 convenient care clinics at drugstores. Walgreens Health Services assists pharmacy patients and prescription drug and medical plans through Walgreens Health Initiatives Inc. (a pharmacy benefit manager), Walgreens Mail Service Inc., Walgreens Home Care Inc. and Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy LLC.