McCallum Sweeney Consulting’s client The Hertz Corporation announced the company will relocate its worldwide headquarters to Estero, Florida (Lee County, near Bonita Springs and Fort Myers) from Park Ridge, New Jersey. 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," Hertz Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark P. 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."
McCallum Sweeney Consulting (MSC) provided site selection and incentive negotiation services to Hertz for this effort. The state of Florida and Lee County, Florida, provided high-impact grants, tax incentives and training support to Hertz in support of the company’s location decision.
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.
About The Hertz Corporation
Hertz operates its car rental business through the Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty brands from approximately 10,400 corporate, licensee and franchisee locations in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and New Zealand. Hertz is the largest worldwide airport general use car rental brand, operating from approximately 8,800 corporate and licensee locations in approximately 150 countries. Hertz is the number one airport car rental brand in the U.S. and at 111 major airports in Europe. Dollar and Thrifty have approximately 1,580 corporate and franchisee locations in approximately 80 countries. Hertz is an inaugural member of Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards Hall of Fame and was recently named, for the thirteenth time, by the magazine's readers as the Best Car Rental Agency. Hertz was also voted the Best Overall Car Rental Company in Zagat's 2012/13 U.S. Car Rental Survey, earning top honors in 14 additional categories, and the Company swept the global awards for Best Rewards Program and Best Overall Benefits from FlyerTalk.com. Product and service initiatives such as Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, NeverLost®, and unique cars and SUVs offered through the Company's Adrenaline, Prestige and Green Traveler Collections, also set Hertz apart from the competition. Additionally, Hertz owns the vehicle leasing and fleet management leader Donlen Corporation and operates the Hertz On Demand car sharing business. The Company also owns a leading North American equipment rental business, Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation, which includes Hertz Entertainment Services.
About McCallum Sweeney
McCallum Sweeney Consulting is a site selection, incentive negotiation and economic development consulting firm providing location decision services to firms and organizations worldwide. For more information, see www.mccallumsweeney.com.