WorldCity Business Magazine

WorldCity People

by Joachim Bamrud

Odland named CEO of Office Depot

Delray Beach-based Office Depot, which operates in 23 countries worldwide, has named Steve Odland chairman and CEO. Odland is the former chairman, president and CEO of AutoZone.

Prior to joining AutoZone in 2001, Odland was Chief Operating Officer of Ahold USA, and served as president of the food service division of Sara Lee. He also spent 16 years at The Quaker Oats Company in various senior management capacities.

Odland, who was named Top New CEO in 2002 by Bloomberg Markets Magazine, is a director of General Mills and last year was chairman of the Business Roundtable’s Corporate Governance Task Force.

Office Depot’s new chairman and CEO holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in management from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

He succeeds interim chairman and CEO Neil R. Austrian, who will continue to serve as a member of the board, and will resume his duties as chair of the company’s finance committee.

Garcia to chair Movida start-up

Veteran Latin America telecom executive Enrique J. Garcia has been named the first chairman of newly created cellular phone operator Movida Communications. Garcia was formerly president and CEO of Venezuela’s top cellular phone operator Telcel, a joint venture between Bell- South International and the Cisneros Group. Before joining Telcel in 1992, Garcia worked with companies like Cellular One of Puerto Rico and Unisys in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Spain.

Garcia will join Movida president Anthony V. Montoya to build the first virtual operator targeting U.S. Hispanics. Movida is owned by Venezuelabased Cisneros Group, a conglomerate of various companies in telecommunications, broadcasting, beer production and retailing.

Attorney Franco joins Adjoined

Former Steel Hector & Davis partner Cori E. Franco was appointed general counsel for Miami-based Adjoined Consulting. The consultancy has various international clients, such as Air Jamaica, Dutch bank ABN-Amro and Swedish telecom producer Ericsson.

Franco will manage mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, licensing agreements and other legal affairs. Prior to joining Steel Hector three years ago, she served two years as an associate at Shearman & Sterling in New York, where she focused on corporate finance, debt securities transactions, credit facilities and project finance transactions.

Franco is a graduate of New York University and received her law degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Florida* trade pioneers honored*

Challenge Air Cargo’s founder and president Bill Spohrer, Oscar C. De Tuya Jr. of the freight company Tuya International and the late Howard Reeder, Sr. are the 2005 inductees in the International Trade Hall of Fame.

Other inductees include Northwestern Meat president Elpidio Nunez and the late Ramon Espino of CCT and Don Greene of Don Greene Poultry.

This year’s third annual award ceremony was held at the Sheraton Hotel and was organized by the Florida Foreign Trade Association.

The International Trade Hall of Fame was instituted to honor the men and women who paved the way for Miami to become the gateway of the Americas.

Gazzolo heads up MTV Latin America

MTV-veteran Pierluigi Gazzolo has been named managing director for MTV Networks Latin America, the Miami-based company that owns and operates MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon Latin America, Nickelodeon Brazil and the MTV Networks Digital Suite.

Prior to his promotion, Gazzolo was responsible for MTVN Latin America’s content distribution strategy through pay-TV, broadcast, cable and other channels. He also played a key role in the strong of VH1 Latin America last year.

Prior to joining MTV in 1994, Gazzolo worked at Miami-based Telemundo Networks, where he was part of the team that launched Telenoticias, Telemundo’s 24-hour Spanish speaking news channel.

The Italian-born Gazzolo was raised in El Salvador and holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Florida International University.

Veteran designer Farmer joins RTKL

Coral Gables resident Diana Farmer has joined the South Florida office of Baltimore based international design firm RTKL Associates. Farmer is responsible for numerous installations for British Airways in the Americas, including facilities in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, as well as for the U.S. embassy in Lima and the Banque de Luxembourg in Luxembourg.

Prior to joining RTKL, Farmer was founding principal of her own Coral Gables-based Design Studio 03, as well as working with Beame Architectural Partnership and Arquitectonica International.

Farmer earned a bachelor of science degree in interior design, summa cum laude, at Florida International University and has also studied at the architecture program at the University of Colorado’s School of Design and Planning.

RTKL Associates has designed everything from the Aventura Mall to the Monterrey Industrial Club in Mexico and has offices in Europe and Asia as well as in the United States.

Japan honors golf legend Jack Nicklaus

Japan’s new consul general in Miami, Masakazu Toshikage, presented golf legend Jack Nicklaus with a special commendation in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the U.S.Japan relationship.

The award, presented on behalf of the Japanese Foreign Minister, is given to individuals or groups that have provided especially distinguished service in promoting mutual understanding, friendly relations and international cooperation between Japan and other countries.

“I am very honored to receive this award,” Nicklaus said at the ceremony, which took place in Jupiter, Florida. Nicklaus acknowledged that Japan had played a large part in his golf-designing career.

“I have been traveling to Japan for over 30 years and have created many business relationships as well as personal relationships with the people of Japan,” he said.

Currier new counsel at healthcare trade group

Maria T. Currier, a partner at the international law firm of Hunton & Williams, was appointed general counsel for the South Florida Hospital & Healthcare Association. Currier has counseled governments in Latin America on the privatization of their health care systems and represented U.S.-managed care companies in establishing their international operations in Latin American markets.

Currier has a master’s of science in nursing and a law degree from the University of Miami.

WTC Miami honors Colonel Bien

Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Lettie Bien was awarded the International Women’s Day Award for her significant contributions in advancing international trade and business.

Colonel Bien, a 29-year military veteran and honor graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, recently returned from a one-year deployment in Iraq. She was a past chairman of the Military Affairs Council of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and a current and founding member of the Miami-Dade Defense Alliance.

The award was presented by The World Trade Center Miami during a luncheon at the Radisson Hotel.

Cabrera focuses on ethnic marketing

Eileen Cabrera, a former design coordinator with LA-ZBoy Galleries in Fort Lauderdale, and interior design project manager*with Plantation-based The Bonacci Design Group, has beennamed account executive at Miami-based public relationsagency Howard Miller Communications.*

She will be responsible for ethnic marketing and community outreach for HRMC clients. Cabrera attended The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and Rutgers University.

Levin included in Who’s Who

The co-chair of Greenberg Traurig’s immigration practice, OSCAR LEVIN, has been named to The International Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers 2005. Who’s Who in Corporate Immigration Lawyers is compiled through a six-month process of interviews with lawyers and in-house council.

Levin, who represents multi-national companies in visa matters and cross-border employee transfers, has lectured on immigration and nationality matters throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

Mitchell promoted at real estate firm

Edward P. Mitchell has been appointed first vice president in the Fort Lauderdale office of real estate company CB Richard Ellis. Mitchell was previously the Miami-based managing director of CB Richard Ellis in South Florida. In his new job, Mitchell’s main focus will be industrial and landlord representation.

Mitchell has completed more than 300 transactions worth over $250 million in value most of these with Fortune 500 companies in Class A buildings.