Internet advertising company ReachLocal Inc. has named Sharon Rowlands as its chief executive, the company announced Wednesday.

Rowlands also was appointed to the board of directors of the Woodland Hills company.

She replaces interim Chief Executive David Carlick who filled in following the resignation in September of former chief executive and company co-founder Zorik Gordon.

Rowlands has 20 years business experience and brought strong growth and change in her prior positions with Thomson Financial and Penton Media, Carlick said.

“Her experience with small and mid-sized businesses, as well as in developing digital platforms and workflow solutions, will prove invaluable as we continue to grow ReachLocal’s offerings and customer base,” Carlick said in a prepared statement.

Rowlands was president and chief executive at Thomson Financial, a division of Thomson Corp. in Stamford, Conn., from 2005 to 2008. Prior to ReachLocal, she was chief executive at Altegrity Risk International Inc., a global risk consulting and information services company in New York City, and prior to that chief executive at Penton Media Inc., also in New York.

Shares of ReachLocal closed up 16 cents or 1.6 percent to $10.46 in trading on the Nasdaq.