Central Parking has recruited industry veteran Rick West to be an executive vice president and take charge of the company\'s development strategies.
The hiring of West – who also will focus on marketing, e-commerce, brand building and promotion – is the latest signal that Nashville-based Central Parking is preparing to mix it up again on the acquisition front after a few years of retrenching and focusing on contract wins following its 2007 buyout.
Former CEO Emmanuel Eads early this year said his team had been paying debt and giving itself "plenty of additional runway" for deals. The company hired three business development execs last year.
West has more than two decades of industry experience and has worked at companies focused on both of the airport and urban markets. He was, among other things, CEO of AviStar Parking, which was sold in 2002 to a fund run by Australian bank Macquarie. More recently, he has been a consultant to the industry. (One seminar he helped lead billed him as "the consummate parking entrepreneur.")
Jim Marcum, president and CEO of Central Parking, said West “brings a unique skill set that combines his many years of hands-on experience in the industry both as an operator and as a strategic advisor to parties, including private equity.
“Our focus, with Rick’s contributions, will be to grow our market share through both organic and strategic opportunities. Given the significant increase in public private partnership activity going on around the country at this time, Rick will take the lead as Central’s executive focused in this arena.”
|
