Enterprise Rent-A-Car CFO to Join Centric Group: John T. O'Connell Will Remain on Enterprise Board of Directors
ST. LOUIS--April 19, 2002--In a joint statement from the chief executive officers of Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Centric Group, it was announced today that John T. O'Connell, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company is moving to become Executive Vice President for the Centric Group. Both Enterprise and Centric are majority owned by the Jack C. Taylor family of St. Louis. The move will be effective August 1, 2002.Andrew C. Taylor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Douglas A. Albrecht, President and Chief Executive Officer of Centric Group made the announcement.
Both Enterprise and Centric are headquartered in St. Louis. Enterprise is the largest rental car company in North America with fiscal 2001 annual revenues of $6.3 billion. Centric Group, which is a collection of six distinct businesses, produced revenues of more than $350 million in fiscal 2001. The six Centric companies are:
| -- | Access Catalog (mail order consumer product sales to institutional commissaries and prison inmates) |
| -- | Betallic (leading manufacturer of mylar balloons and coordinating gift accessories) |
| -- | Courtesy Products (leading distributor of hotel operating supplies, including guestroom coffee and coffee makers, and complimentary bathrobes) |
| -- | Keefe Commissary Network (automated commissary service to correctional facilities) |
| -- | Keefe Supply Company (leading supplier of food and personal care products to prison commissaries) |
| -- | Riddell Footwear (exclusive footwear licensee of Riddell Sports, Inc.) |
"For many years John has wanted to be active in the operations of a business, which led to his request to rejoin the Centric businesses, which is where his career with our family started in 1979," said Taylor. "We believe the knowledge and expertise he used to help transform Enterprise from a small, regional business into a multi- national, industry-leading company will be invaluable to Centric at this point in its development."
"John already has an excellent understanding of our business at Centric," said Albrecht. "He is a charter member of Centric's board of directors and he has had an equity interest in the business since it was formed as a free-standing company on August 1, 2000. His equity stake in the company will also increase with this move." (Prior to 1999 the businesses that comprise Centric were operated as wholly owned subsidiaries of Enterprise.)
Taylor also announced that O'Connell will remain as a member of Enterprise's board of directors and will continue to manage a variety of financial matters for the Taylor family. "John remains our trusted and valued counselor and we are happy to support his desire to apply his ample skills with the Centric Group," Taylor said.
A replacement for O'Connell is likely to be chosen from a number of highly capable and experienced internal candidates at Enterprise, Taylor said. "We are fortunate to have a well developed group of financial services professionals at the company, several of whom will be actively considered to succeed John as chief financial officer. John will remain until August 1st to assist with the transition."
O'Connell graduated from the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce with an emphasis in marketing. He joined Enterprise in 1980 as a financial analyst after a one-year stint with the subsidiaries that would eventually become the Centric Group. In 1988 he was promoted to assistant vice president and then vice president in 1989. He was promoted to Chief Financial Officer in 1992, during the midst of one of the company's major expansion phases. He later was made senior vice president in 1995, executive vice president in 1998, and was elected to the company's board of directors in October 2000.
O'Connell, his wife Anita and their three children reside in St. Louis. He is actively involved in the St. Louis community where he serves as a trustee for the John Burroughs School, the St. Louis Children's Hospital Foundation, and the Missouri Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.
SOURCE: Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the Centric Group