WorldCity Business Magazine

WorldCity People

by Joachim Bamrud

Fourquet heads Lehman Brothers

The New York-based investment bank Lehman Brothers appointed Jose Fourquet as managing director and head of its Miami Private Client Services office. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, where he now manages the firm’s high net worth and mid-market business for South Florida and Latin America, Fourquet was the United States’ executive director at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the youngest person ever to hold that position.

Fourquet, a native of Puerto Rico, also served as a member of the board of directors at the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), a U.S. government agency that provides grants to non-governmental and community-based organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean for innovative self-help programs.

Previously, Fourquet was a vice president in the fixed income, currency and commodities division of Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York. Before joining Goldman Sachs, Fourquet spent six years with the Central Intelligence Agency, posted in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Fourquet, who has a B.A. in government from Georgetown University and an MBA from Columbia University, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been selected by the World Economic Forum as one of the 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow.

Casas to market FIU B-school

Joyce Elam, Dean of the College of Business Administration at Florida International University (FIU) recently announced the appointment of Luis Casas as director of marketing and corporate relations.

Casas comes to FIU from The History Channel and A&E Latin America, where he was vice president of marketing. His career in marketing and business development spans nearly 20 years with companies that include The Walt Disney Company, Arthur D. Little Consulting and Venepal, Venezuela’s largest pulp and paper company. He has a Masters degree in management from the prestigious Sloan School of Business at MIT and an undergraduate degree in systems engineering from the Uiversidad Metropolitana of Caracas, Venezuela.

FIU’s College of Business Administration is the largest of the university’s professional schools. It comprises the R. Kirk Landon Undergraduate School of Business, where some 8,000 students are enrolled each year, and the Alvah H. Chapman, Jr. Graduate School of Business, which caters to some 800 full-time and part-time students.

Beacon Council honors Kraft, Amedex, Cordis, Tampa Cargo

At its third annual Beacon Awards ceremony in late January, The Beacon Council honored two individuals and 10 companies for their contributions to the local economy in the areas of job creation, business expansion, corporate citizenship and leadership in their respective industries. Pictured here is Cristian Sainz (third from left), director of corporate affairs Latin America for Kraft Foods, receiving the award for International Commerce and Multinational Corporations. Pictured with Sainz are (from left to right) Frank Nero, president and CEO, Patricia Thompson, secretary, and Ben Mollere, chairman, all of The Beacon Council. In May of 2004, Kraft Foods Latin America relocated its headquarters from Rye Brook, New York, to Coral Gables.

Other corporate award winners were Tampa Cargo (Aviation), Cordis Corporation (Bioscience), The Miami Herald & El Nuevo Herald (Business Services), Parrot Jungle Island (Film & Entertainment), AXA Advisors (Financial Services), Amedex Insurance Group (Healthcare Services), Terremark Worldwide Inc. (Information Technology & Telecom), Carnival Cruise Lines (Vistor) and Florida Memorial College (Education).

The premier award, the Jay Malina Award, honoring the business executive who contributes the most to the growth of his industry in Miami-Dade County went to William Graham, president, CEO and chairman of The Graham Companies, and brother of former U.S. Senator Bob Graham,D-Fla. The Graham Companies were largely responsible for the design, planning and development of Miami Lakes. Honored with the Judges Special Award was Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess.

Caffin now global VP at Bureau Veritas

After five years as president and CEO of Bivac North America, the U.S. subsidiary of the Bureau Veritas group, Miami resident Jean-Michel (Jon) Caffin, was appointed Global Vice President and Head of the firm’s International Trade Division. In his new role, Caffin will lead the consolidation, coordination and development of a broad range of trade-related inspection and certification services worldwide, while still following specific U.S. projects with the Department of Homeland Security, and the Food and Drug Administration.

While he will continue to be based in Miami, Caffin will undertake extensive travels throughout the company’s international network. Bureau Veritas, which offers a wide range of services in the fields of inspection, audit and certification as well as training and consulting in risk management, has more than 600 offices and labs in over 140 countries.

In spite of his new global responsibilities, Caffin intends to remain closely involved in a number of key Florida undertakings such as Florida FTAA, the Governor’s Haiti Advisory Group and the Advocacy Group at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

Xavier Lividini, The Mutiny’s new GM

Distinguished hotelier Xavier Lividini, formerly the regional director of sales and marketing at the Intercontinental West Miami Hotel, was named general manager of The Mutiny Hotel, a 120-room luxury property located in Coconut Grove.

Lividini spent five years heading sales at the Intercontinental West, while at the same time directing the regional sales office of Grupo Real hotels, 12 Central American properties that are also part of the Six Continent Hotel group.

Prior to joining the Intercontinental West in 1999, Lividini was director of sales and marketing at the Mayfair House in Coconut Grove and the Condado Plaza in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He also served as executive consultant to Hotel Intercontinental Panama and, in the early 1990s, worked at the Hotel Sofitel Miami.

The hotel business runs in Lividini’s veins. In November, he became the third Lividini to be inducted into the distinguished alumni association of New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Both his father, Xavier, who retired as general manager of the Mayflower in New York this past December, and his uncle, Marino Lividini, former general manager of New York’s Park Lane Hotel, were inducted several years ago.

Flurry of changes at Bermello, Ajamil

In the latest of a series of recent announcements, the Florida architecture and engineering firm Bermello, Ajamil & Partners named Diana Garcia chief financial officer. Garcia, who has been with the firm since 1994, will continue to supervise the human resources and accounting departments, while taking on new responsibilities as CFO.

Earlier this year, B&A, which has four offices in Florida, announced the opening of a fifth, in New York. Well known for its port design and engineering work, B&A is currently engaged in the $200 million redesign and upgrade of the New York City Cruise Terminals in Manhattan. Other port clients include the Port of Philadelphia, Delaware Port Authority, Massport in Massachusetts and the Port of Halifax.

Also, B&A recently added a 23rd partner to the firm, Jose "Joe" Gomez, director of the firm’s transportation division. Gomez, who joined B&A little over a year ago, spent more than a decade at the Florida Department of Transportation.

Hunton & Williams partner goes global

Craig Rasile, a partner at the Miami office of law firm Hunton & Williams, was selected to co-head the company’s Bankruptcy and Creditors Practice worldwide. Frequently ranked among the top bankruptcy lawyers in the country by peer polls and publications that track the legal industry, Rasile will be responsible for managing, marketing and growing the bankruptcy and creditors practice both nationally and internationally.

Rasile, who joined the firm in 2003, received his law degree from the University of Miami and his undergraduate degree from Grinnell College. Hunton & Williams, founded in 1901, currently has more than 850 attorneys in 17 offices, 12 in the United States, three in Asia and two in Europe.

Berkowitz adds international tax specialist

Miami native Cary Cabanas has joined the Florida accounting firm of Berkowitz Dick Pollack & Brant as a manager in its international tax services department.

A former senior tax manager at KPMG, who served as regional coordinator for Latin America for the Global Tax Outsourcing Practice, Cabanas is experienced in providing international income tax compliance and consulting services to expatriate and foreign national employees of multinational corporations.

Cabanas has a B.A. in accounting and a masters degree in taxation, both from Florida International University.

Shutts & Bowen adds more muscle

The financial services practice of Florida law firm Shutts & Bowen, already recognized as one of the strongest in the business, continues to beef up, adding banking and corporate attorney Elizabeth Martialay, who previously worked in the New York and London offices of Shearman & Sterling in the area of bank finance.

The addition of Martialey brings to 17 the number of attorneys in the financial services practice. Headed by Bowman Brown, the practice represents commercial banks, savings and loan associations, brokerage houses, investment advisors, insurance companies, consumer lending companies and other providers of financial services.

Martialay, fluent in Spanish, received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and did her undergraduate studies in government and economics at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.