Movers and Shakers

Back in business

Fernando Ferrer, the democratic challenger to incumbent Michael Bloomberg in the 2005 New York mayoral election, has been appointed co-chairman of New York consulting and lobbying firm, Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations. In his new position, he will also serve as the co-chair of the firm’s Hispanic division. Ferrer served as a city councilman, Bronx borough president and president of the Drum Major Institute, a public policy group, before becoming the Democratic nominee for mayor in 2005.

NAA’s new leadership

Jose H. Villarreal, a partner of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, has been elected by the members of the New America Alliance (NAA) as the organization’s new chairman of the board. The NAA also announced that current members Marcos A. Rodriguez, founder and managing member of Palladium Equity Partners, LLC in New York City; Guillermo Perales, president and CEO of CG Management, LLC in Irving, Texas; and Tony Quintero, president and CEO of Plaza Investments, LLC in San Jose, California, will be joining the organization’s board of directors.

Latino Business Leadership Award

Louis P. Miramontes, managing partner for KPMG’s San Francisco office, was honored with a 2006 Latino Business Leadership Award presented by the San Francisco Business Times, San Francisco Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Wells Fargo. The Latino Business Leadership Awards highlight achievements in Corporate America, entrepreneurship, nonprofit work and philanthropy, healthcare, and the public sector. Miramontes was cited for his leadership role at KPMG, for his efforts in increasing Latinos’ awareness of opportunities in the corporate world, and for his help in recruiting Latinos to KPMG.

AOL Latino

Ralph Rivera has been named vice president and general manager of AOL Latino. He will continue to oversee AOL Games. Rivera will be responsible for AOL Latino’s seven programming areas, while overseeing the business strategy for the Web portal, which became free for users in August. Rivera will continue to report to Bill Wilson, senior vice president and general manager of AOL Programming. He will be based at AOL headquarters in Dulles, Virginia. Rivera has held executive and staff positions at Pearson, Simon & Schuster, Deloitte & Touche and IBM.

New CEO at Wrigley Co.

The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company announced the selection of William D. Perez as president and CEO. He will be taking over for Bill Wrigley, Jr., who will assume the new full-time role of executive chairman while also continuing his responsibilities as chairman of the board of directors. Perez, 59, spent 34 years with SC Johnson, including eight years as president and CEO of the multi-billion dollar privately held global consumer Products Company. In 2004, he joined Nike, where he served as president and chief executive officer until earlier this year. Perez will be the first person to serve as president and CEO of the Wrigley Company from outside the family.

Royal Palm Award for Aida Levitan

Aida Levitan, Ph.D., the president and CEO of Levitan & Palencia, LLC, has received the 2006 Royal Palm Award from the Public Relations Society of America’s Miami Chapter. The Royal Palm Award is presented to a member of the
Miami-Dade County community who embodies the core values of the public relations profession and has made outstanding community service contributions. A former public administrator with a doctorate in Spanish literature, Levitan operates a young marketing communications firm with partner Javier Perez-Palencia. The agency serves clients from Spain and the U.S. in South Florida and the U.S. Hispanic market.

SBA recognitions

Jose A. Diaz, president of Florida-based defense contractor DEI Services Corporation was recognized by U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Steven C. Preston as Minority Small Business Person of the Year during the 24th National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week conference in Washington. Diaz received top honors for his superior business achievements. At the same ceremony, Frank Ramos, director of the Office of Small Business Programs, Office of the Secretary of Defense for the U.S. Department of Defense, received the Administrator’s Leadership Award. SBA Administrator Steven C. Preston recognized him for his tireless efforts and unwavering commitment on behalf of the nation’s minority small business community.