George Armendariz
Beneteau Group appointed George Armendariz as group CEO for the Americas.
A newly created position, the CEO for the Americas will coordinate the regional activities of all brands in North, Central and South America — Beneteau, Jeanneau, Prestige, Four Winns, Scarab, Glastron and Wellcraft.
Jeanneau and Prestige America president Nicolas Harvey will report to Armendariz as well as to Jeanneau and Prestige CEO Jean-Paul Chapleau. Beneteau America president Laurent Fabre will report to Armendariz, as well as Beneteau CEO Carla Demaria.
Armendariz joins Beneteau Group from Nordic Tugs, a builder of recreational trawlers in Burlington, Wash., where he was president.
Prior to that, he spent 21 years in positions at Brunswick Corp., the most recent of which was vice president and general manager of Brunswick Marine Europe, based in Belgium. Armendariz was responsible for the management of Brunswick’s boat brands in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Before joining Brunswick, Armendariz spent 12 years at First Interstate Bank, where he was international vice president in Seattle after having run the bank’s operations in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.
Beneteau said Armendariz has extensive experience with European and Latin American cultures. He has lived and worked in Europe, South America and the United States.
Beneteau said Armendariz is a founder and former director of Plaza Bank, Seattle, and a board member of Heritage University in Washington.
He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Texas Christian University and speaks English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.