Job Title: CEO and Chairman

Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

About Me:

Fred Goldsmith is the CEO and Chairman of Pet Paradise Resort. He led an investor team to purchase Pet Paradise Resort in 2002 and has been the CEO and driving force behind the growth of the company. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Fred received a B.S. in marketing from the University of Miami. He resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and is married with four grown children.

Job Title: COO and Executive Vice President of Finance

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

About Me:

Fernando Acosta-Rua is Chief Operating Officer for Pet Paradise.  Fernando joined the board of the company in 2005 and became COO in 2007 after working in Venture Capital for almost 10 years.  Fernando attended University of Florida for his undergraduate studies and received his MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.  Fernando and his wife, Brooke, have three children, one dog, two cats and five fish - all residing in Jacksonville.   

Job Title: General Counsel and VP of Development

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

About Me:

Bill Joel is the General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Development for Pet Paradise.  Bill joined the Company in April of 2008, after representing the Company for several years as an attorney in private practice.  Bill's responsibilities include helping the Company comply with the many laws and regulations that affect the Company, as well as helping oversee the selection, development and construction of new facility locations.  Bill and his wife, Kim, are residents of Jacksonville and have two sons, Lionel (23) and Spencer (18).

Job Title: VP-Finance/CFO

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

About Me:

Dennis Allen is the Accounting and finance administration and oversight. He is married with two children and two grandchildren.  In 1981, he relocated to the Jacksonville area. Dennis has a thirty year career in accounting/finance including previous position as CFO - Lucier Chemical Industries, LTD.

Job Title: Director of Marketing

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

About Me:

Lisa Tarr joined the Pet Paradise team in 2009. Her background includes several marketing/public relations positions for non-profit organizations, recently serving as the Public Relations Director for the Houston Humane Society. Lisa received her B.A. in Communications from St. Edward's University in Austin, TX. She recently relocated to the Jacksonville area with her 2 English Bulldogs, Mike & Peanut, and in her free time is enjoying the beautiful beaches of FL!

Job Title: Controller

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

About Me:

Marty Harris spends most of her time at Pet Paradise Resorts working in accounting and human resources. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Management at University of Phoenix, Jacksonville campus.

In her free time, she enjoys her home in Mandarin with her husband, Howard and her Maine Coon cat, "Honey". Marty's favorite things are the beach, water color painting, gardening and most of all her family and friends.

Job Title: Creative Director

About Me:

As a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell with a Bachelor's in Fine Arts/Graphic Design, Darcy Ladd comes to Pet Paradise with a varied background in print and other media ranging from simple logos to more complicated magazine and billboard ads.  Her work has appeared in Jacksonville Magazine, ads for several local car dealerships, jewelry stores and medical publications just to name a few.

Darcy knew from an early age that her creative juices would pay off as evidenced by her ability to make a working camera out of a Quaker Oats box at the age of 14.

We at Pet Paradise are forever thankful her parents decided they had enough of the cold and snow and decided to retire to sunny Florida in 2000 bringing Darcy with them.

Job Title: Accounts Payable Specialist

About Me:

Gari is the Accounts Payable Specialist. Besides paying all the bills, she is also involved in Human Resources. Around town, Gari is also known as the "WardrobeMaven".  With a degree in Fashion Merchandising, she has a side business as a Wardrobe Consultant for the last 10 years. So, when she gives fashion advice on how to make the pooches look lovely, take heed!

Job Title: Administrative Assistant

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

About Me:

Terri joined the Pet Paradise team in 2007 as the Administrative Assistant. Her duties in the office include, entering all daily sales for all locations, reconciling all monthly bank accounts, answering and handling most incoming calls, coordinating all shipments of requested items to all locations.  Prior to coming to Pet Paradise she worked for the Acosta-Rua family as Administrative/ Personal Assistant and Office Manager. Terri is a Jacksonville native and her free time is spent with her 10 year old daughter and her two cats!

Job Title: Regional Manager –TX/LA

Location: Houston, TX

About Me:

Born and raised in Chicago, Joanna recently relocated to the Houston area in June of 2011, with her husband, 2 kids, and 4 pets. Johanna has 15 years of restaurant management experience, which also included Regional Marketing Manager for Chipotle and Regional training Manager for Noodles and Company. She studied Elementary Education in college, where she taught preschool for several years. Joanna joined Pet Paradise in September of 2011, and is enjoying every minute of it!

Job Title: Regional Manager-Florida

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

About Me:

Jessica Ammann joined the Pet Paradise team in 2001. From the beginning Jessica was a integral part of the Pet Paradise growth, having managed and open the New Orleans, Sanford, Jacksonville Airport, Gainesville and the Saint Augustine resort. With over 10 years of experience with Pet Paradise, she brings the knowledge and expertise into her new job role as Florida Regional Manager. When she is not at work, she enjoys crafting, scrapbooking, fishing, staying up to date with her favorite bands and spending time with her 3 pups: Jada, Zada, and Shima.

Job Title: CEO and Chairman

Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

About Me:

Fred Goldsmith, CEO and Chairman, has a long and successful background as an entrepreneur and service business operator. After spending several years in the financial services arena with Merrill Lynch and Municipal Securities, Inc., he was one of the early franchisees of the Wendy's restaurant chain. Beginning in 1975, he built and operated 10 Wendy's restaurants throughout the Northeast Tennessee area. Fred sold the restaurants to the Wendy's Charlotte franchisee in 1984. In 1978, Fred founded Tridata, Inc. and developed software for the POS limited food service industry. Wendy's International and the Burger King Corporation used that software. A bi-product of the food service software was a labor management product that was sold to many of the major hotel chains. The company grew to $8,000,000 in revenue and in 1991 was merged with TechTime, Inc., a publicly traded company. After selling the company, Fred remained in a management role until he left the company in 1995. In 1997, Fred founded Goldsmith Capital Management, a money management firm focused on high net worth individuals and foundations. He subsequently led an investor team to purchase Pet Paradise Resort in 2002 and has been the CEO and driving force behind the growth of the company. Fred is originally from Memphis, Tennessee. He received a B.S. in marketing from the University of Miami. He resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and is married with four grown children.

Job Title: COO and Executive Vice President of Finance

About Me:

Fernando Acosta-Rua, COO and Executive Vice President of Finance,has been involved with APR since August of 2004 and joined the company in an operating capacity in January of 2007. As a former partner with the Wilton, Connecticut based private equity group L&L Capital Partners, Fernando led an investment group to invest $4 million in American Pet Resorts, LLC in October of 2005. Fernando has over 15 years of  investment management experience with eight of those years focused on Private Equity/Venture Capital investing. From 1998-2002, he was Vice President of the Connecticut based FondElec Capital Advisors, LLC., a private equity fund manager with $250 million in capital under  management. From 2002-2006 Fernando was a partner with L&L Capital Partners, a private equity investment and financial advisory services firm. At L&L, his responsibilities included: analyzing business plans and deal structures, negotiating transaction terms with target companies as well as financial and capital structure advisory services to companies. Mr. Acosta-Rua holds a BS from the University of Florida and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Job Title: Director and an Investor in American Pet Resorts, LLC

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

About Me:

John Foster, is a director and an investor in American Pet Resorts, LLC.

Mr. Foster held a variety of executive and managerial positions, primarily in marketing and operations, during a 30 year career in the telecommunications industry His later assignments at AT&T included Regional Vice President- Marketing, President and CEO of a wholly-owned subsidiary in Jacksonville, FL, and President and Managing Director of AT&T Services Group, Europe. Subsequently, he served on the Boards of three publicly-traded Companies in the communications and software technology areas before becoming a founding investor and Board Member of American Pet Resorts, LLC. Mr. Foster has a BS and MS in physics, and attended the 84th Advanced Management Program at Harvard. He has been active in community affairs including the Foundation Board of the University of North Florida and the Atlanta and Jacksonville Chambers of Commerce.

Job Title: Director and an Investor in American Pet Resorts, LLC

Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

About Me:

Robert H. Hood, Jr., is a director and an investor in American Pet Resorts, LLC. Bob is the past president of Douglas Aircraft Company, the commercial aircraft division of McDonnell Douglas Corporation. He served as president of Douglas Aircraft Company from February 1989 until April 1996. Mr. Hood had two stints with McDonnell Douglas, first working from 1965-1971 and then rejoining the firm in 1982 as the vice president-deputy general manager for McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company in Huntington Beach, California. He served in various capacities of  increasing responsibility throughout his tenure at McDonnell Douglas. Bob was a board member of the McDonnell Douglas Finance Corporation,  Wynn's International, and the California Chamber of Commerce. Bob is on the board of directors of environmental research in Michigan. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and industrial engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Bob lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL and is married with two grown children.

Job Title: Director and an Investor in American Pet Resorts, LLC

About Me:

David Messerlie, is a director and an investor in American Pet Resorts, LLC. Mr. Messerlie is the president and Chairman of the Board of Directors of LCI Ltd., the world's largest supplier of inorganic fluoride for water fluoridation and the production of silicon Tetrafluoride for the silicon wafer market. Prior to joining LCI in 1989, David spent 14 years with the IBM Corporation in the areas of sales and marketing. Mr. Messerlie graduated from Indiana University's business school in 1972.

Job Title: Director and an Investor in American Pet Resorts, LLC

About Me:

Dean Beckwith, is a director and investor in American Pet Resorts LLC. Mr.

Beckwith held a variety of executive and managerial positions in the computer and telecommunications industries for over 38 years. At IBM he was a divisional vice president including 20 plus years of assignments internationally. He was IBM Director of Service and was instrumental in creating a joint venture company, ROLM Sales and Service, which was purchased by Siemens AG. He became SRVP of Services for that company and later SRVP of service for Siemens Private Communications in Munich, Germany. He was also a board member Siemens Private Communications. He holds a BS Degree in Business Administration fro Drexel University and an MBA from Pace University.

Job Title: President and CEO of Mayport Venture Partners, LLC

About Me:

Dan Rice has served as President and CEO of Mayport Venture Partners, LLC since its founding in 2000. Prior to assuming this position, Mr. Rice was a partner in one of America's premier law firms, McGuireWoods LLP. Before joining McGuireWoods, Mr. Rice was the Chief Administrative Partner at Mahoney Adams & Criser, P.A.., a law firm which ultimately consolidated its practice with McGuireWoods. Mr. Rice received a BS in Financial Management from Clemson University in 1984 and both his MBA and JD degrees from the University of Florida in 1987. He is active in various philanthropic endeavors, including service on several not-for-profit boards of directors.

Job Title: Founding Partner of L&L Capital

About Me:

E. Bulkeley "Buck" Griswold is the Founding Partner of L&L Capital, an

investment banking and consulting firm focused on middle market and emerging companies. Buck has more than 40 years experience in the financial services and investment management sectors. Mr. Griswold is a Former President and Managing General Partner of MarketCorp Ventures, a private $66MM venture capital fund. He also served as Executive Vice President and a Trustee of General Electric Investment Company (GEIC), managing $12 billion of GE's $20B pension portfolio. Mr. Griswold is a former Board member of the New York Mercantile Exchange and is a graduate of University of Maryland, B.S.; and University of Connecticut, M.B.A.

Job Title: Executive Chairman of Acosta Sales and Marketing

About Me:

Gary Chartrand, Executive Chairman of Acosta Sales and Marketing, joined Acosta in 1983 as a Business Manager and subsequently was promoted to Vice President, Regional Vice President of Florida, President, and in 1996, President/Chief Executive Officer.  Acosta Sales and Marketing Company, Inc., based in Jacksonville, FL with more than 17,000 employees company wide, is one of North America's largest sales and marketing agencies serving the $700 billion supermarket industry. Gary is a winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Award, and was named to the Supermarket News Power 50 list from 2003 to 2009. He is responsible for quadrupling the company's geographic coverage, transforming Acosta into a leading full-service sales and marketing company in the U.S. and Canada.  Gary is the author of the recently released management book, Unreasonable Leadership www.unreasonableleaders.com