ZRG Partners Recruits CEO for Oasis Marinas
January 4, 2023 – ZRG Partners has assisted in the recruitment of Kenneth Svendsen as the new chief executive officer for Oasis Marinas, a provider of third-party marina management services. Dan Searby and Brian Meany spearheaded the assignment. “We are thrilled to have Kenneth join the Oasis team,” said Matt Shipman, president of Oasis Marinas. “Kenneth is a proven leader, and his decades of experience in the hospitality industry will position Oasis to expand on our customer service successes and continue to provide high-quality and unique experiences for boaters across the country.”
Mr. Svendsen has more than 30 years of broad consumer-facing experience that began in the travel industry in Europe before roles with The Walt Disney Company, Hilton Worldwide, Entertainment Cruises, and most recently, Hornblower Cruise & Events.
During his tenure as CEO at Entertainment Cruises, and president for Hornblower Cruises and Events, Mr. Svendsen planned, expanded, integrated, and led the team to what became North America’s largest and leading provider of water-based dining, sightseeing, private charter, and transportation experiences. He oversaw an expansion from 26 ships and 1.5 million guests in eight destinations to 157 ships in 22 destinations with 9.8 million guests annually on multiple continents and a team of 5,000.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Kenneth served as president of Walt Disney Travel Co., SVP of global sales, worldwide travel operations for Disney Destinations Globally and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) USA Parks and Resorts. In 2009, he was recruited by Hilton Worldwide to serve as global head of sales, reservation operations, regional marketing, and hotel quality assurance. Mr. Svendsen was part of the team that doubled the number of properties to 3,800 by 2013. Mr. Svendsen also serves on the boards of multiple new ventures, social enterprise organizations, and non-profits.
As CEO of Oasis Marinas, Mr. Svendsen will continue to scale Oasis Marina’s current properties and expand the company’s footprint. His leadership is expected to drive Oasis through its next growth and diversification stage and advance its overall portfolio and customer service experience. “I am incredibly honored to have been selected to lead Oasis Marinas,” said Mr. Svendsen. “The Oasis team has built a world-class business dedicated to the highest level of customer satisfaction, and I look forward to continued growth and superior service across all facets of the company.”
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A privately held marina management company, Oasis Marinas, is based in Annapolis, MD. The company provides marina management services to marina owners that support all aspects of the marina, including boat slips, provisions, fuel docks, and the associated contracts with the vendors running the maintenance services, restaurants, and other business services such as marina redevelopment and construction.
Proven Recruiters
ZRG, founded in 1999, is a progressive mid-sized global executive search firm. With the financial backing of private equity investor RFE Investment Partners, ZRG is among the fastest growing firms in the search industry. It provides a full suite of executive, middle-management, and customized search solutions through its offices in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. The firm finds leaders across a broad spectrum of business markets, including aerospace, consumer, education, healthcare services and solutions, industrial, life sciences, non-profit, private equity and venture capital, and technology.
ZRG Partners Assists Carlin Consumer Health with CEO Search
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Mr. Searby is a managing director with ZRG. He has spent his entire career in the consumer and retail/foodservice sectors, working on both the manufacturer and multi-unit operator sides before entering executive search in 2005. Mr. Searby has led extensive CEO and president-level searches and in the last 10 years; 78 percent of his searches have been at the C-suite level across all functions, and 71 percent of his searches have been conducted on behalf of private equity or private capital portfolio companies. He has built relationships in the foodservice and restaurant sectors, industries.
Mr. Meany, a managing partner at ZRG, leads the firm’s global consumer practice. Based in New York, he specializes in the recruitment of CEOs, boards of directors, and C-suite leaders. His consumer and retail client work includes global CPG, middle market consumer, omnichannel retailers, pure play digital, restaurants, food and drug, hospitality, and leisure. Mr. Meany’s clients include publicly held, private, private equity-backed and founder-led models. In his 30-plus years of executive search, he spent 25 years as managing director with Herbert Mines Associates, focused on retail and consumer client work. He also led their globe search group partnership, working with international partners and clients. He began his career at Korn Ferry and Norman Broadbent.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
