Steven R Berrard

Bio

Prior to co-founding New River, Mr. Berrard was the co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of AutoNation, Inc., the nation's leading automotive retail company. The operations of AutoNation include more than 400 automotive dealerships, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent-A-Car, and CarTemps U.S.A. In three years, Mr. Berrard guided AutoNation from a fledgling enterprise to the 83rd largest company on the 1999 Fortune 500 with over 80,000 employees. Mr. Berrard was also instrumental in the acquisition and subsequent spin-off of AutoNation's security alarm monitoring and waste disposal business. Prior to joining AutoNation, Mr. Berrard served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Blockbuster Entertainment Group, and as a member of the Board of Directors of Viacom, Inc. As President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Berrard was responsible for the direction and operation of more than 70,000 employees at 4,500 Blockbuster stores located in 20 countries, Showtime Networks, Spelling Entertainment Group, Paramount Parks, and Virgin Interactive Entertainment. Prior to his tenure with Blockbuster, Mr. Berrard served as President of Huizenga Holdings, Inc., and served in various positions with subsidiaries of Huizenga Holdings, including Waco Leasing Company and Port-O-Let International, Inc., where he was President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary. Prior to joining Huizenga Holdings, Mr. Berrard was employed by Coopers & Lybrand. He is a member of the Board of Directors of HealthSouth (Audit and Compliance Committees as well as Chairman of the Finance Committee), Boca Resorts, Inc. (Chairman of Audit Committee), , Florida Atlantic University, and the Broward Economic Development Council. He also served on the Board of Birmingham Steel prior to its sale to NuCor in 2002. In 2001, Governor Jeb Bush appointed Mr. Berrard as a Commissioner of the North Broward Hospital District where he serves as Chairman of the Finance Committee, the Management Information Systems Committee and the Architectural Selection Committee. Mr. Berrard earned his BS in Accounting from Florida Atlantic University.