Corporate report

FORT MYERS-NAPLES
Hertz shuffles board, replaces retiring CEO
Car rental giant Hertz, coming off another poor earnings performance and amid a three-year struggle to gain market share, has named a new president and CEO.

Former GE executive Kathryn Marinello, with experience in senior leadership roles in banking, business service and technology, will replace John Tague as president and CEO, the Estero-based company says in a statement. Tague, a former United Airlines executive named president and CEO in late 2014, will retire, the company adds. The leadership change is effective as of Jan. 3.

Marinello held several positions at GE over more than a decade. She ran GE Fleet Services at GE Commercial Finance, and before that she oversaw GE Insurance Solutions. After GE she was president and CEO of two other companies, outsourcing firm Stream Global Services and payroll business Ceridian Corp. Marinello remains on the board of GM.

Activist investor Carl Icahn, Hertz's largest shareholder, approved of the hiring. “I am excited about Hertz and its prospects with Kathy at the helm,” says Icahn in the statement. “Kathy has a history as a proven CEO and I believe she is the right person to lead Hertz as we move forward. Her consistent track record of successes in consumer and financial services, as well as technology businesses, is impressive. She was extremely well-regarded at GE and successfully turned around Ceridian and Stream.”

Hertz also announced several changes to its board of directors. Marinello will replace Tague in early January, and the board's three longest serving directors, Non-Executive Chairwoman Linda Fayne Levinson, Compensation Committee Chairman Carl Berquist and Financing Committee Chairman Michael Durham, will also leave the board at the end of the year. The board will have seven directors following their departure.

SARASOTA-MANATEE
Mall at University Town Center names new leader
Shopping center operations professional and five-year Taubman executive Jeramy Burkinshaw joined the Mall at University Town Center in Sarasota as general manager.

Burkinshaw is responsible for operations, retailer and community relations and marketing. He brings more than 14 years in operations and management to his new position. Most recently, he served as the operations director of Taubman's City Creek Center in Salt Lake City.

Burkinshaw has been on the grand opening team for four Taubman shopping centers, including the Mall at UTC and City Creek. He replaces Octavio Ortiz, who had been general manager at the mall since it opened in October 2014.

Lakewood Ranch Medical Center appoints new top executive
Veteran hospital executive Andy Guz was named the new CEO at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center in east Manatee County.

Guz was most recently CEO of Jennersville Regional Hospital in suburban Philadelphia. He also served as COO at various hospitals within Community Health Systems. Guz has a bachelor's degree from Marshall University and a master's in health administration from Cornell University.

Universal Health Services owns Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, which opened in 2004 and has 120 beds. Guz will be responsible for a medical staff of more than 500 physicians and allied health professionals at Lakewood Ranch.

TAMPA-ST. PETERSBURG
Cuba is new Royal Caribbean destination for Port Tampa
Royal Caribbean International will offer year-round cruises to Cuba on a newly announced service from Port Tampa Bay beginning April 30, port officials say.

The recently refurbished Empress of the Seas will be based in Tampa for the 2017 summer season — the cruise line's first ever summer program from Tampa. It will offer a series of four- and five-night sailings, including port calls to destinations in Cuba. 

Royal Caribbean President and CEO Michael Bayley says the Cuba sailings are the start of increased activity at the port for Royal Caribbean. “We look forward to continuing to grow our business in Tampa for years to come,” Bayley says in a press release.