Hertz Moving Headquarters to Estero Florida
Hertz released the following press release:
LEE COUNTY, FL –
The Fortune 500 company bringing over 700 jobs to Lee County has been revealed.
The Hertz Corporation today announced that the company will relocate its worldwide headquarters to Estero, Florida from Park Ridge, New Jersey.
“This is truly the largest economic event in Lee County’s history and we’ve been established since 1887; that is no understatement,” said Lee County Commissioner Frank Mann.
Hertz CEO Mark Frissora was at Southwest Florida International Airport with Governor Rick Scott to make the announcement.
“We are so grateful for this welcome to the Sunshine State,” Frissora said. “We did not make the decision to relocate lightly. We wanted to know that Florida was not only attractive to us as a company, but also to our employees.”
He added that some of the executives will be moving down immediately. Until the Estero location is built, they will be working out of a temporary location – likely in North Naples.
Hertz made the decision following its recent acquisition of the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, which was finalized on November 19, 2012.
Dollar Thrifty is currently headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Consolidating the corporate offices to one location will allow for increased efficiencies and cost synergies across the company.
Additionally, access to the Florida travel and tourism population will position the company for long-term growth.
According to Visit Florida, there are approximately 1 million employees in the state’s travel and tourism industry, Florida’s largest business segment.
Hertz also noted that Orlando is the world’s largest car rental market, and that Miami is a hub for accelerating travel growth between the United States and Latin America.
Starting this year, up to 700 jobs will be relocated to Florida over a two-year period. More than 2,000 Hertz and Dollar Thrifty personnel will remain in New Jersey, including approximately 150 employees who currently work in Park Ridge.
All other Park Ridge employees will be able to retain their current positions at the new headquarters, scheduled to be completed in early 2015.
Hertz was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1918, and moved its headquarters to New Jersey from mid-town Manhattan in 1988.
“After our recent business expansion, we have been looking for the right location to blend Hertz and Dollar Thrifty head office employees,” Frissora said.
“Florida is the center of the U.S. travel and tourism industry – this move enables us to be closer to leisure and business customers, as well as many travel and association partners. As part of this move, we will open off-airport and retail car sales stores on our headquarters campus, which will enable us to experiment with new services and monitor customer satisfaction first hand. Lee County, on the Southwestern Gulf Coast of Florida, is a well-established travel destination with tremendous growth potential, with easy access to other leading tourism markets including Orlando, Miami/Fort Lauderdale and Tampa/St. Petersburg.”
Hertz and Dollar Thrifty have more employees in Florida than in any other state except California, and Florida rents more cars per capita than any other state.
Florida provides ready access to a vast and diverse talent pool, including 3,000 of our own employees, as we grow our businesses. All of these factors supported the company’s final decision.
Frissora added, “This is the best, most balanced business decision based on market factors as well as the needs of our employees and customers. The relocation results in a positive financial return to the company and we will provide more details during our next quarterly earnings call. Additionally, in no way should this decision be perceived as a slight to our partners in New Jersey and Oklahoma. We recognize the significant efforts undertaken in recent years in both states to create and retain jobs, while improving the overall business climate. In particular, over the last several years we have seen significant improvement in New Jersey’s business climate and our decision should not be interpreted as a reflection of our views about doing business in the Garden State. New Jersey has been our home since 1988 and would have been for countless more if not for our acquisition of Dollar.
Because of these efforts, we will continue to grow our car and equipment rental businesses in New Jersey and Oklahoma. We are retaining e-commerce and certain financial functions in northern New Jersey thanks to the state’s strength in the financial services industry. Oklahoma will continue to be our primary home for IT, customer service and financial support driving our North American businesses. Overall, we concluded that it is in the best interests of our company, which is primarily in the travel and tourism business, to be near our largest market.”
“We also want to note that the New Jersey Partnership for Action was very active and effective in their efforts to entice us to remain in New Jersey, and we are grateful for their efforts.”
Hertz chose Lee County, Florida, primarily because of its diverse community appeal, work force availability and accessibility.
The company worked closely with Florida Governor Rick Scott as well as other state and county government and business leaders throughout the decision-making process.
“This is exactly the kind of opportunity the county should be looking at in terms of how can we conduct ourselves with business as a government,” said Lee County Commissioner Larry Kiker.
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