North Castle Partners' Awards Prestigious "CEO of the Year" Award to Crunch's Tony Scrimale
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TAMPA, FL - North Castle Partners, a leading private equity firm and investment partner of CR Fitness Holdings LLC, the top franchisee for Crunch Fitness, has recognized CEO, Tony Scrimale, as the recipient of their 2025 "CEO of the Year" Award. A tradition now in its 25th year, this marks the second time in the past four years CR Fitness Holdings has been awarded, a rare occurrence in the ceremony's history.
North Castle selected Scrimale after review of its wide-ranging portfolio of 20+ companies within the Healthy, Active and Sustainable Living marketplace. The award is given annually to a CEO/management team who has made an extraordinary contribution to the success of North Castle and best exemplifies their cornerstone approach of "Value & Values," creating value while operating by a set of core values.
The decision to award Scrimale and CR Fitness Holdings was based on their recent 12-month financial achievements and execution against the major strategic initiatives that drive long-term equity value for North Castle. This includes the entering of new markets with new club builds and acquisitions, record-breaking new member growth and existing member retention, as well as personal training performance results.
Since being in CR Fitness' top leadership role, Scrimale has grown the group from 35 locations in 2022 to now 85 across five states, an increase of 50 locations in the past three years. Membership growth eclipsed the 500,000 active member mark during Scrimale's time as CEO, now well exceeding 800,000 active members.
However, according to Jon Canarick, Managing Director of North Castle Partners, what separated Scrimale from the rest of the candidates within their portfolio includes the "How" and not just "What" or "How Much."
"Tony Scrimale and CR Fitness embody the same core principles as North Castle. Their passion and commitment to being on this journey with us, their approach to the development of their people and dedication to building a strong community. The commonalities in our shared values is why this partnership has been a true honor and surpassed any expectations we had. This team is truly best in class and we're incredibly thankful for our continued partnership with them." - Jon Canarick, Managing Director, North Castle Partners
Scrimale's passion and commitment to the industry, its members and staff, and dedication to communities served is evident in his daily approach.
"It's been an honor and a privilege to go on this journey with our partners at North Castle, along with our executive leadership team at CR Fitness; and to serve our 5,000 full and part-time dedicated employees across the country." - Tony Scrimale, CEO, CR Fitness Holdings LLC
The executive leadership team referred to by Scrimale is fellow partners Vince Julien, Geoff Dyer and Jeff Dotson, who combined, have more than 150 years of industry experience. CR Fitness Holdings currently operates 85 Crunch Fitness locations across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Tennessee, with plans to expand into Arizona. The franchise is on track to operate 100 locations nationwide by 2026.
