Loading
FORT MYERS — The Hertz Corp. announced today it is relocating its worldwide corporate headquarters from Park Ridge, N.J., to Estero in Lee County.
The company says it made the decision following its November acquisition of the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, which is currently headquartered in Tulsa, Okla. The Fortune 300 company was looking for a place to consolidate the corporate offices to increase efficiencies between the companies, and Florida made sense as the hub of the travel and tourism industry, says Mark P. Frissora, Hertz chairman and CEO, in a news release.
Hertz says it will employ 700 people with an average wage of $102,000, excluding benefits, in Lee County. It also plans to build a 300,000-square-foot headquarters building that is estimated to cost $68.75 million.
Lee County approved $4 million in incentives to help lure the company. To receive the first half of the incentives from the county, Hertz must make a qualified capital investment of $46.25 million by Dec. 31, 2014 and create 350 jobs before Sept. 30, 2015. To receive the second $2 million in incentives, Hertz has to create the remaining 350 jobs by the end of 2016 and have a total qualified capital investment of $60 million.
In addition, the state has approved $14.35 million in incentives.
Hertz says 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 positions at the new headquarters, which the company plans to complete in early 2015.
Hertz, which moved its headquarters to New Jersey from Manhattan in 1988, says it chose Lee County because of its work force, community appeal and accessibility.
"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,” Frissora says in the release. “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."
Founded in Chicago in 1918, Hertz (symbol: HTZ, recent price: $24.64) rents cars through the Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty brands from about 10,400 locations in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and New Zealand.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
