Vanguard Car Rental USA, Inc., the operators of the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent-A-Car brands, and the country's third largest airport car-rental company, will move its headquarters to the Tulsa, Oklahoma area by the end of the year. The announcement was made in Tulsa today by Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry, Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune and William E. Lobeck, President & Chief Executive Officer of Vanguard Car Rental USA, Inc. In making the announcement, Governor Henry said, "This is a major 'win' for our state. The National and Alamo brands are well known throughout the world and we are thrilled that the company has decided that Tulsa is where they want to be headquartered." The move is expected to be completed by late 2004. Lease negotiations for the new Tulsa location are currently being finalized and the site will be announced shortly. The company currently is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is expected that the move will eventually add close to 700 jobs to the Tulsa area. William Lobeck, president and CEO of Vanguard said, "The State of Oklahoma and the cities of Tulsa and Owasso showed they wanted our company to join their growing economic community. The incentives they offered as well as the access to a well-qualified workforce in a geographically central location were major components of our decision. This move will significantly reduce our current costs." The Alamo and National brands were acquired by Vanguard Car Rental USA, Inc. in October 2003. Vanguard Car Rental USA, Inc. is owned by a group of private investors. By moving its headquarters to Tulsa, it will bring up to 700 high-level jobs and a direct annual payroll of up to $38.5 million. Economists estimate another 590 additional indirect jobs will be created in the community as businesses begin to serve the newly located firm. Indirect and direct employment combined could ultimately mean as many as 1,290 jobs new jobs in the Tulsa area with an estimated combined annual payroll of more than $75 million. Currently headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Lobeck said the company will gradually move its offices to Tulsa over the coming months. The move is expected to be completed by late 2004. The new Tulsa location will not be disclosed until lease negotiations for the building are complete. He said the firm plans to hire up to 700 new employees in Tulsa into such positions as accounting, advertising, claims handling, legal, marketing, sales, and other management and administrative positions. The National and Alamo brands generated worldwide annual revenues of approximately $2.4 billion in 2002. The organization employs more than 14,000 associates, has more than 3,200 locations in 83 countries and serves customers with a fleet of more than 217,000 automobiles.