Miami's Kenneth Thomas, a consultant to banks and thrifts since 1975 and a national expert on community lending, has resigned as chairman of the CRA Qualified Investment Fund and is no longer an employee or director of CRAFund Advisors, the fund's management company. The 9-month-old Fort Lauderdale-based fund was designed to help banks qualify for community lending credits under the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 by investing money into a fund that buys mortgage-backed securities and mortgages backed by properties in low-income neighborhoods.
Stuart-based First National Bank and Trust Co. of the Treasure Coast, a subsidiary of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida,hired Lang B. Ryder as senior vice president and manager of its new division, Seacoast Marine Finance. Opened in January, the new division has its headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. Ryder, 36, has 12 years' experience in marine finance and joins Seacoast Marine Finance from Bank of America, where he was a senior vice president.
Construction -- John Sabetta is the new president and COO of Fort Lauderdale-based General Roofing, a national commercial roofing company. Most recently, Sabetta was the COO at Arthur Rutenberg Homes, a $225-million privately held builder of single-family homes. GeneralRoofing recently merged with 23 leading commercial roofing companies in the nation but is still Florida based.
Distribution -- Tim Geddes was promoted to executive vice president of Tampa-based Ringhaver Equipment Co. He takes over from Sam Hilliard, who retired in December after 38 years with the company. Geddes, 33, began his career with Ringhaver in 1991 and for the last two years has been vice president and general manager of Ring Rent, a subsidiary of the company. Ringhaver is a distributor of heavy equipment and power systems.
E-Commerce -- MerchantOnline.com, a Boca-Raton-based company that offers secure credit and debit card processing for Internet retailers, hired Jim Gitney as its new COO. Gitney comes to the company from Sunbeam Corp., where he was vice president of operations for household divisions and outdoor manufacturing in Meosho, Mo. MerchantOnline.com also offers Internet store space for web "e-tailers."
Environment -- The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a California-based nonprofit land conservation organization, has elected its first Florida resident to the Board of Directors. George Knox, 58, of Miami, is an attorney with Adorno and Zeder, P.A., where he specializes in public finance, land use and local government law. Knox has supported TPL by serving on the organization's Florida Advisory Council and assisting with plans for the Miami Greenway. Founded in 1972, TPL specializes in conservation real estate and has 28 offices nationwide, including Tallahassee and Miami.
Healthcare -- Craig Drablos of Humana Inc. moves up to regional vice president of health systems management for the Southeastern region, which includes Atlanta, Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando. Drablos, 40, has been with Louisville, Ky.-based Humana since 1989 and was most recently executive director of Humana's Kentucky market.
Ron Hoytoff replaces Bruce Siegel as president and CEO of financially struggling Tampa General Hospital. During his tumultuous four-year reign, Siegel converted the hospital from public to private. Hoytoff, 54, was the COO of the hospital for three years and previously ran the University of Louisville Hospital.
Publishing -- After 25 years at the St. Petersburg Times, Paul C. Tash, 45, has been named editor and president. Andrew Barnes, who steps down from both positions after nearly 16 years, remains chairman and CEO. Tash's promotion comes as no surprise. Barnes, 60, designated Tash as his successor in 1997, naming him deputy chairman.
Tash started with the Times as a summer intern while he was still in college. He covered local news and state issues at the capital bureau in Tallahassee. He later moved up to city editor, metropolitan editor, assistant managing editor and Washington bureau chief. From 1990 to 1991, Tash was editor and publisher of Florida Trend, an affiliate of Times Publishing.
Real Estate -- Prominent real estate developer Thomas Crocker has been tapped as CEO of Jacksonville-based Koger Equity, one of the Southeast's most well-known Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). He had been running Boca Raton-based Crocker Realty Trust, a privately owned office park developer, with Robert E. Onisko, who was hired as Koger's new CFO. Crocker, 46, has resigned as CEO of Crocker Realty Trust but still is a major shareholder and member of the board of directors. There are no plans to merge his former company with Koger, he says. Crocker replaces Victor Hughes Jr. as CEO of Koger, but Hughes will remain company chairman.
Restaurants -- Burger King Corp., with headquarters in Miami, has promoted Julio Ramirez to senior vice president of U.S. franchise operations and development. He succeeds Mark Giresi, who left after 15 years to become vice president of operations for The Limited retail chain. Ramirez, 45, most recently was president of Burger King's Latin America/Mexico/Caribbean division and has been with the company for 15 years. He will be responsible for managing franchise operations in the U.S. along with development of new restaurants.
Telecommunications -- After a three-month search, Tampa-based Davel Communications has named Raymond A. Gross as CEO, replacing Robert Hill who resigned late last year. Gross, 50, recently was COO of BHI Holdings, now Carlisle Holdings LTD and president of Carlisle's subsidiary, OneSource, a facilities management company. Davel Communications is the nation's largest independent provider of payphone services.
Transportation -- Charles Rowland will retire as the executive director of Canaveral Port Authority June 30 after serving in the position for 20 years. A nationwide search has been under way to find a replacement. Rowland helped build Port Canaveral into the world's second-busiest cruise port, serving more than 2.9-million passengers in the last year. -- Amy Welch