4 minute read
Hospitality Solutions put money back into your pocket
By Andy McVicar
Your membership with the Washington Hospitality Association brings you a number of great benefits. Your training programs provide opportunities to develop a successful workforce. Your communications team strives to be your primary source of information, bringing you the latest news on all things hospitality. The government affairs team advocates for the hospitality industry with federal, state and local lawmakers.
And finally, your Business Development team is dedicated to building, growing and sustaining membership programs that save members like you money each year.
Each one of these core pillars aims to provide long-term value to make sure you’re getting more than your money’s worth out of your association dues. The Business Development member programs are specifically designed to put money back into your pocket.
As an association representing 5,800 members, we have the ability to negotiate more favorable prices for goods and services. We then pass those savings on to our members, giving you access to goods and services that might be cost prohibitive if you were to purchase them on your own.
Here’s a quick rundown of programs that will save you money as a member of the Washington Hospitality Association:
Healthcare Solutions
Healthy employees are the foundation of any business. This is especially true for the hospitality industry as we aim to serve our guests with great experiences. And with the ongoing labor scarcity challenge, hospitality businesses need to be even more competitive in attracting and retaining team members. Our Healthcare Solutions will give you that competitive edge.
One of our program providers—Hospitality Industry Health Insurance Trust (H.I.H.I.T.)—is celebrating 25 years of providing access to affordable medical options for restaurant and lodging employers. H.I.H.I.T. offers a wide variety of services including dental, vision, an employee assistance program (EAP) telemedicine and more! The plans can be customized to fit the unique needs of your business.
We also have a program through UnitedHealthcare—a solution for any size business. UnitedHealthcare has plans covering medical, dental, vision, disability and critical illness. And it includes a pharmacy discount program that can save employees up to 80% on their prescriptions.
My Hospitality Insurance
For many small business owners, their business is one of their largest investments. This means it’s important to protect that investment from unforeseen hazards. Our Property & Casualty Insurance Affinity Program offers a variety of insurance lines including general liability, employment practices liability, workplace violence, crime, cyber liability and more!
As with our Healthcare Solutions, our business insurance program can be customized to fit the specific needs of your business. Our partners will work with you to find a premium that fits your budget and the coverages you need to protect one of your most valuable assets.
Group Purchasing Solutions
The association has partnered with
Dining Alliance and Source1 for group purchasing programs available to all members at no cost. When you sign up, you don’t change the way you order and there are no contracts and no mandates.
There are also over 350 manufacturers and 165,000 items with rebates. Anytime you place an order with your distributor, the system will automatically match the purchases to available rebates. Every purchase you make is analyzed and any rebates generated are deposited into your Dining Alliance or Source1 account. Your first withdrawal will be available after six months and subsequent withdrawals are available every 90 days.
HR Solutions
Hospitality businesses are primarily focused on providing great guest experiences. And as you know, it takes a great team of employees to make those experiences happen. There’s a lot that needs to happen behind the scenes to make sure your team is at the top of their game.
That’s where our partnerships with companies like GNSA and Paylocity come in. As part of our HR Solutions program, these companies provide workforce management solutions that will help you with everything from onboarding, payroll, scheduling, leave, HR and much more. Their services will help you attract and retain talented team members, increase employee engagement, reduce your labor costs and ultimately save you money.
Members save at least 35% on payroll services and technology by working with our HR Solutions program.
Payment Solutions
Not that long ago cash and checks were the predominant methods to pay for goods and services. Those eventually gave way to debit and credit cards. And with the pandemic, payment apps and touchless payment options became much more popular.
Our partnerships give you access to a variety of payment processing solutions that fit your needs as guest buying habits continue to evolve. And there are no long-term contracts, mysterious rate increases or proprietary POS.
These are just a few of the many programs we have in place to save you money. Be sure to visit wahospitality.org for a complete list of our Hospitality Solutions. ■
I started on the Washington Hospitality Association’s Payment Processing Program a few months ago and I am impressed with the money I’ve been saving. I would give the pricing a 20/10! The customer service has answered my credit card processing questions quickly and professionally. I have been telling other owners of restaurants that they should look into becoming a member of the Association just to utilize the Payment Processing Program. I am able to make up my yearly dues investment in savings on credit card processing in less than a month!
Devin Marshall, Cafe C5
“The service was great! I asked for a quote, got a much lower rate and changed without having to do much at all. We changed recently and changed again when we found this program.
