WorldCity Business Magazine

WorldCity People

by Mary Dempsey

Changes in Ryder’s U.S. team

Ryder System has put Anthony Tegnelia and Vicki O’Meara at the helm of the transportation and supply-chain company’s operations in the United States.

Tegnelia, who previously served as president of Ryder’s U.S. Supply Chain Solutions division is now responsible for all operations in the company’s largest business segment, fleet management solutions. Tegnelia has held various positions at Ryder since 1977, when he joined the company as manager of business planning.

O’Meara, meanwhile, takes the position vacated by Tegnelia. She most recently was Ryder’s chief of corporate operations.

“Their combination of skills and deep understanding of Ryder’s business focus positions both of these leaders to accelerate profitable growth by capitalizing on the strong gains and process improvements we have realized to date,” says Ryder Chairman and CEO Greg Swienton.

Spirit revamps management team

Spirit Airlines has hired two US Airways executives to boost the management team of the low-cost carrier based in Fort Lauderdale.

John Prestifilippo joins Spirit as senior vice president of technical operations. The 20-year veteran of the aviation industry will be responsible for the maintenance and engineering of Spirit’s new Airbus fleet, which is slated to be complete next year. At US Airways, he was senior vice president of maintenance and engineering. His background also includes positions at Continental Express and Continental Airlines. Prestifilippo is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

Tony Lefebvre, meanwhile, takes on the post of senior vice president of customer service at Spirit. In the new position he will be responsible for airport services, all ground operations and the systems operation control center. At US Airways, Lefebvre was most recently the managing director for Europe.

“While other airlines are downsizing, merging and concerned about surviving, we’re focused on our future,” says Spirit President and Chief Operating Officer Ben Baldanza. “John and Tony, along with our other roster of leaders, will catapult Spirit to our next stage of growth and ensure our low-cost leadership position in the Caribbean and Latin America.”

Beacon Council selects officers

Business ties with China will be a priority for the Beacon Council over the next year, says Neisen Kasdin, an attorney who has been named as the council’s chairman, succeeding Ben Mollere.

Kasdin works in the urban development group and real estate department at law firm Gunster Yoakley & Stewart. He is also the former mayor of Miami Beach.

“My goals for the Beacon Council this year include establishing Miami-Dade as the gateway for Asian business in the Americas, attracting and supporting the expansion of entrepreneurial international business, developing a young leadership program for the Beacon Council and working together with cities to better foster economic development and job creation,” Kasdin says.

The other officers named in October to one-year positions on the council include Chair-elect Angel Medina Jr., who is the president of Region’s Bank in Miami-Dade County, and AVbiz Aerospace Ventures CEO Aviv Tzur, who is treasurer. Attorney Patricia Thompson of the law firm Carlton Fields was named to a second consecutive term as secretary. Beacon Council CEO Frank Nero is also an officer.

The Beacon Council is the public-private entity that serves as Miami-Dade County’s official economic development partnership.

Calypso appoints former Siemens exec

Calypso Wireless, which specializes in seamless roaming of voice, video and data, has appointed Akshay Sharma as its chief technology office. Sharma, formerly the chief architect of mobile enterprise solutions for Siemens, will spearhead implementation of Calypso’s new cellular phone with voice-over-Internet-protocol capabilities.

“One of Mr. Sharma’s principal tasks will be to coordinate the activities of all three Calypso research and development centers in Miami, Florida; Milan, Italy; and Hong Kong to expedite delivery” of the new phones, says Mike Pizzi, executive vice-president of Calypso Wireless. Sharma is a 16-year-veteran of the telecommunications sector. He was a key figure in Siemens’ work that ended in a $1 billion venture with Cingular.

In a separate announcement, Calypso hired attorney Michael Pizzi, who is also a Miami Lakes councilman, to serve as the company’s executive vice-president and general counsel. Pizzi’s top duty is to take action against any infringement of the company’s patented technology. Pizzi formerly worked for the U.S. Justice Department. He is a partner at the law firm of Bierman, Shohat, Loewy & Klein in Miami.

Maverick Oil appoints directors

Maverick Oil and Gas has appointed David Preng and Andrej Rucigaj to its board of directors. Preng is CEO and president of Preng and Associates, an international executive search firm that specializes in the oil and gas industry. Rucigaj has worked as a manager in the investment and finance fields for the last 10 years, with a focus on the energy sector. Since 2001, Rucigaj has been an investment manager at Aktiva Group, an Amsterdam-based private-investment fund controlled by one of the principal beneficiaries of Line Trust Corp., which is a principal shareholder of Fort Lauderdale-based Maverick. Preng and Rucigaj were expected to be named to the company’s audit committee.

Drum moves up at MIA

Miami International Airport veteran Bruce Drum is on his way to a promotion. Miami-Dade Aviation Department Director Jos Abreu will name Drum as the new deputy director of operations for the department. He will also announce Ronald Smith’s new duties overseeing the general aviation airports.

In the new post Drum, formerly the assistant director of operations, will be responsible for several divisions of the department, including airside, landside and terminal operations, security and safety, general aviation airports, facilities maintenance, facilities contracts, noise abatement and police and fire rescue. He joined the aviation department in 1976 as an airport clerk. He was successively promoted to airfield attendant, airfield agent, airfield senior agent and supervisor before becoming division manager.

Smith now manages the Airside Operations Division at MIA and oversees collection and revenue accounts for more than 87 passenger and cargo air carriers. In the new position, Smith will be responsible for Homestead General Airport, Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport, Opalocka Airport, Opa-locka West Airport and Training and Transition airport in Collier County.

Vector Group names CEO

Effective Jan. 1, Howard Lorber will take over as chief executive officer at Miami-based tobacco-industry company Vector Group. Lorber joined the company as a consultant in 1994 and had been president, chief operating officer and a director at Vector since 2001. He will continue to serve as president and as a director.

Vector Group is a holding company that indirectly owns Liggett Group, Vector Tobacco and a controlling interest in real estate and financial services firm New Valley Corp. At the end of September, it announced plans to acquire all shares of New Valley that it does not already own in a swap with shares of Vector Group common stock.

Vector’s current CEO and majority owner, Bennett LeBow, will become executive chairman of Vector’s board.

Juncadella launches real-estate firm

Jose Juncadella has formed Fairchild Partners, a Coral Gables company offering commercial real estate brokerage, development and advisory services in South Florida.

“Many real estate investors are looking to partner with entrepreneurial, marketfocused ventures that provide local knowledge, in-depth marketing experience and flexibility,” says Juncadella, a specialist in office and industrial real estate transactions. “We created the company to fill a void that exists in South Florida.”

Prior to forming Fairchild Partners, Juncadella was a senior vice president of commercial sales and leasing with Codina Realty Services in Coral Gables. He also led the headquarters relocation initiatives in South Florida for Delta Air Lines, Ryder System and MasTec.

Jones Lang LaSalle promotes Rumpel

The man who established a Miami office for Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, the hotel investment-services group, has been promoted to the position of executive vice president.

Four years ago, Gregory Rumpel opened the hotel group’s Miami office to focus on South Florida, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean. Since then, he has been instrumental in several high-profile transactions, including the refinancing of the Ritz-Carlton Jamaica, the sale of the Marriott Mexico City Airport and the Cheeca Lodge and Spa in Islamorada.

The Miami office handles investment sales, financing and real estate advisory work and other services. Rumpel is currently marketing the Grand Cayman Marriott, La Belle Creole in St. Martin and the Omni Colonnade hotel in Coral Gables.

“The Miami office is focused on dynamic markets in the Caribbean and Mexico that are poised for strong growth, and I am pleased to reinforce Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels’ commitment to these markets with the promotion of Gregory Rumpel,” says Arthur Adler, managing director and CEO-Americas for the hotel group.

Initium acquisition

Alvarez & Marsal, a global professional services firm, has acquired Miami’s Initium and brought Michelle Miller on board to help manage the merged company. Initium was a business improvement boutique firm serving companies in the United States and Latin America. Miller, who has been named managing director, will serve as co-head of Alvarez & Marsal’s southeast region restructuring group. That group, based in Marsal’s South Florida headquarters, also has offices in Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C. Alvarez & Marsal is a professional services firm with expertise in guiding companies and public sector entities through financial, operational and organizational changes.

Begelman heads bank marketing

BankAtlantic has named Mark Begelman, the former president and chief operating officer for Office Depot, as the financial institution’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Begelman, who was also founder and former CEO of Mars Music, will handle all aspects of the Fort Lauderdalebased bank’s marketing and advertising, as well as manage new store real estate and construction. Bank Atlantic has $6 billion in assets and 78 branches.

Auxis hires business development chief

Auxis, a Coral Gables-based management and business-consulting company, has hired Vivian Carballo as director of business development and marketing. Before joining the Coral Gables firm, she spent 12 years at the Big Four accounting firms, including Coopers & Lybrand, which is now PricewaterhouseCoopers; Arthur Andersen and Deloitte.

Auxis, founded in 1997, has established strategic alliances with third-party businesses and technology providers. It provides services for middle-market companies across a range of industries.