Azan still the boss

Omar Azan

Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA) has returned its board of directors en bloc at elections held Wednesday.

Omar Azan, the head of Boss Furniture, was unopposed in re-election as president for the 2009/10 term.

His executive comprises deputy president Brian Pengelley, logistics operations manager at Red Stripe, treasurer Jodie Summerbell, the managing director of Sweet Craft.

Four directors whose tenure had ended were voted en bloc to serve another three-year term - David Gaynair of Value Manufacturing; Simon Duquesnay of Lithographic Printers; Vermont Murray of United Plastics; and Byron Thompson, chief executive of Seprod Group.

business@gleanerjm.com

Forstmayr next CHTA president

Josef Forstmayr

Hotelier Josef Forstmayr, who runs the luxury Round Hill resort on the outer-most limits of Montego Bay, has been tapped as the next president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA).

Forstmayr takes up office in 2010 for a two-year term.

CHTA succession requires presidents-elect to go through a one-year initiation before taking up responsibilities as president.

The association said in a statement that its board chose Forstmayr - a second vice president of CHTA and also a director on the state tourism promotion agency, Jamaica Tourist Board - as the next president at the CHTA annual general meeting on June 14 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Forstmayr who was born an Austrian but decades ago adopted Jamaica as home, began his career in hospitality back in 1979 at Coconut Cove in Negril. He later worked at Tryall Golf and Beach Hotel as resident manager, then moved to Trident Villas and Hotel in Port Antonio, before he got to Round Hill.

The officers who will serve with Forstmayr during the 2010/12 term will be chosen, the CHTA said, at next year's AGM.