Industry Champions

Hospitality Heroes Serving Communities & Industry

During the ORLA Hospitality Conference this past September, we had the opportunity to recognize and celebrate more than a dozen “hospitality heroes” who have supported their communities as well as the restaurant and lodging industry. Their work hasn’t slowed down, nor has the need, especially as businesses continue to face historic challenges. From restaurant owners to hotel managers, legislative leaders to agency heads, industry members and partners serve up positive contributions that lift their communities and drive our industry forward.

Join us in celebrating these “Heroes” for their contributions:

Wildfire Relief Response Award

Sarah Smith, InnCline Hotel Management The onset of Labor Day Weekend 2020 brought with it historic and unrelenting wildfires across Oregon. Thousands of Oregonians lost their homes and were permanently displaced as a result. Sarah Smith with InnCline Hotel Management is recognized for her consistent and professional work in bringing the best of hospitality to those in need of shelter. Coordination with federal agencies including FEMA, and disaster response organizations like the Red Cross can bring its challenges, especially when third parties are involved in the financial transactions for overnight stays. Sarah represents the best in coordination and facilitation in taking a difficult crisis situation for Oregon families and bringing comfort and care to those in desperate need of both. Sarah’s recognition is representative of a strong group of ORLA members who answered the call in responding to emergency shelter needs throughout the duration of the pandemic. For those that answered the call, well done and thank you for representing the best of the industry.

Legislative Champions for Hospitality Award

House Republican Leader Christine Drazan State Representative Rob Nosse ORLA recently recognized a Democrat and a Republican who stood up for Oregon’s hospitality industry in legislative sessions taking place during the course of the pandemic. House Republican Leader Christine Drazan was recognized for her work as part of a bipartisan effort to course-correct unemployment insurance taxes given the way Oregon’s formula inequitably taxed hospitality businesses. The result was employer tax cuts worth $2.4 billion over 10 years. In addition, State Representative Rob Nosse assisted the industry in passing “To-Go Cocktail” legislation on a temporary and then a permanent basis. The new tool available to foodservice establishments has the potential to increase sales as well as profit margins for years to come as we work to assist local restaurants in their recovery across the state.

Magic Multiplier Award

Ken Henson, Pelican Brewing Company Times of crisis require strong leaders who rub off on others and inspire us to find our best selves. Ken Henson, co-owner with Kiwanda Hospitality Group which includes his role as Director of Restaurant Operations for Pelican Brewing Company is an example of a colleague who is in the business of creating more leaders. Ken filled a natural leadership role as part of the inaugural Oregon Tourism Leadership Academy class which met in person with safety protocols during Covid and wrapped up their experience in September of 2021. In addition, Ken serves as Vice-Chair of the Oregon Hospitality Foundation representing a crucial position as we grapple with workforce challenges. In his spare time Ken is working to open up another Pelican Brewing location in Lincoln City with beer slated to flow in the Spring of 2022.

State Agency Titans Award

OLCC Executive Leadership Kiauna Floyd, Amalfi's Italian Restaurant Matt Maletis, Maletis Holdings A number of state agencies in Oregon deserve a nod for their intentional engagement of hospitality businesses during the health emergency. Coming in first place is the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission for coming to the table with creative solutions in support of their alcohol licensees. OLCC Director Steve Marks, Deputy Director Will Higlin, and OLCC Commissioners Kiauna Floyd and Matt Maletis among the rest of the Commission deserve high marks for creating pathways for restaurants to find their footing. In addition to deferrals of license fees and rulemaking in support of To-Go Cocktails, OLCC also moved forward with a user-friendly process to allow local restaurants opportunities to expand their outside service areas for alcohol consumption. The resulting move allowed licensees to work with adjacent landowners and local governments in creating more space for outdoor dining. Without alcohol service in those expanded areas and a user-friendly administrative process to get quick approval to move forward, margins on outdoor patios would have looked much grimmer.

Clean-Up Conqueror Award

George Schweitzer, The Benson Portland When your actions speak louder than your words you know you’re hitting the mark. Such is the case with George Schweitzer, managing director of The Benson who continues to roll up his sleeves and host SOLVE cleanups in downtown Portland. George’s leadership could also be touted as one that brings a multiplier effect. George’s efforts have resulted in regular monthly cleanup events with over half a dozen hotels serving as host locations for volunteer staging areas drawing hundreds of Portlanders. In his past role as Chair of the Portland Lodging Alliance, George has done a great deal to inspire other hotel general managers to get actively involved in cleaning up the City with regular invitations to elected leaders and city staff to join him in rolling up their sleeves in support of SOLVE. If you want to make a difference in cleanup efforts in Portland or elsewhere in Oregon, you can reach out to SOLVE’s CEO Kris Carico at kris@solveoregon.com.

ORLAPAC Paragon Award

Jerry Scott, Elmer's Restaurants What’s a Paragon? It’s a model of excellence, and there are few who have been more consistent in supporting the industry’s Political Action Committee (ORLAPAC) than President & CEO of Elmer’s Restaurants Jerry Scott. Jerry and his wife Janet are consistent fixtures at events focused on advocacy for Oregon’s hospitality industry. Without PAC investors like Jerry, our industry can end up on the menu as legislators grapple with labor and regulatory proposals. Political giving remains a necessary function of associations who must constantly forge relationships with elected leaders in positions of authority. Political campaign investments are a means to an end with the end being a thoughtful comprehensive conversation with any elected leader who has an interest in passing legislation that will have an impact on hospitality operations. Jerry doesn’t just invest, he also leads. Jerry is a regular for Washington D.C. visits with federal elected leaders and plays a central role in our relationship with Congressman Schrader’s office. Join us in making a difference by participating with ORLA in the Washington D.C. fly-in April 25-27, 2022, as part of the National Restaurant Association’s Public Affairs Conference. Reach out to Greg Astley at Astley@oregonrla.org for more details about the upcoming trip.

Workforce Warrior Award

Oregon Coast Visitors Association The Oregon Coast Visitors Association (OCVA) is one of seven regional destination marketing organizations across the state who are in the business of building a tourism brand for their portion of the state. Recently, OCVA found success in working directly with one of their regional workforce development boards along Oregon’s north coast known as Northwest Oregon Works. Regional workforce boards are uniquely positioned to support the marketplace needs of employers in their respective areas. Northwest Oregon Works, along with OCVA’s help, was the first regional workforce board to designate the hospitality industry as a major industry sector. This creates more focus and opportunity for restaurants and lodging operations to tap into their resources, including career fairs and job seeker connectivity work provided by WorkSource offices through the Oregon Employment Department. In a time when most employers tell us they still need more staff, we have examples of hospitality businesses along Oregon’s coast that have all the staff they need. Learn more about your regional workforce board by visiting the Workforce Talent Development Board’s website at bit.ly/wtdbinfo.

Leadership Development Award

David Penilton, America's Hub World Tours One of the more challenging endeavors of the pandemic has been moving forward with leadership development programming for tourism professionals in person through the launch of the Oregon Tourism Leadership Academy (OTLA) in partnership with Travel Oregon and the Oregon Destination Association. A leader who has made that challenge easier is David Penilton, owner of America’s Hub World Tours. David has not missed a single Tourism Academy programming gathering for our first two class cohorts. As of the time of this writing, David’s commitment in support of the leadership classes has included in-person attendance at six different multi-day gatherings of the class spanning 18 different workdays. Leadership development does not hit the quality mark without an inherent investment of time which is what David has provided over 35 tourism professionals who have made the decision to participate

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AWARD

David Penilton, America's Hub World Tours

in OTLA in one of the two initial year classes. In addition, David has gone out of his way to make transportation logistics for the class much easier by leveraging the resources of his company to better the program and its outcomes for participants.

Disaster Response Leadership Award

Tina and Dhruti Patel, ALKO Hotels One of the bigger partnerships entered into during Covid was between lodging operators and county health departments and community-based health organizations. Tina and Dhruti Patel of ALKO Hotels took a leap of faith in handing over the keys so to speak to one of their properties in Lane County in support of emergency shelter and vulnerable population stays during Covid surges. There are a number of ORLA members who have taken similar steps to the one that Tina and Dhruti took, and we applaud those who have made the decision to directly work with their regional health providers to help meet the demands of shelter caused by the pandemic, wildfires, and the Willamette Valley ice storm. When a local health department along with emergency responders have a property to rely on completely for shelter needs, that represents a heroic partnership in our book.

Leadership in Hospitality Advocacy Award

Nick Pearson, Jupiter and Jupiter NEXT Hotels T.J. Birkel, Darden Restaurants ORLA professional staff rely upon ORLA members in key leadership roles to help develop policy positions and take action on priority issues. Our Co-Chairs of ORLA’s Government Affairs Committee have had their hands full over the course of the pandemic with constant changes in regulations and a litany of special legislative sessions as elected leaders worked to respond to the host of issues caused by the pandemic. Both Nick and T.J. provided well-rounded and consistent leadership as Co-Chairs of the government affairs process at ORLA. Their roles proved intense as Covid became more and more serious. Under their leadership, participation in government affairs meetings increased as discussions moved virtual and became more accessible for the average member. One byproduct of the pandemic has been the desire to remain holding most Government Affairs Committee meetings online so they can continue to be more open for members who have interest in engaging regardless of where their hospitality business is located in the state. If you would like to join ORLA’s Government Affairs Committee and participate in upcoming virtual meetings, please reach out to Greg Astley at Astley@oregonrla.org.

We love hearing about the great things our members and partners are doing around the state and want to share the positive impacts your contributions are making to our communities. Please pass along your stories to us, email Info@OregonRLA.org.  ORLA