Valor Hospitality has hired a new corporate director, design and development, while Chatham Lodging Trust has added to board members, in this look at personnel moves in the industry.
Valor Hospitality Partners
Valor Hospitality Partners, a global, full-service hotel management company, has appointed Paige Harris as corporate director, design and development.
In this position, Harris oversees property plans for Valor Hospitality sites that are both fully operational and under construction to strategically merge the interest of the owner, operations and brand, while ensuring the project stays within budget. She does this with the overarching goal to align the design intent and execution with the high standard of excellence in design and function that Valor Hospitality is known for, the company reports.
A seasoned industry leader and entrepreneur, Harris brings more than 25 years of design experience to the Valor Hospitality corporate leadership team. Prior to joining the team, Harris owned a full-service interior design firm, Studio Abode, that specialized in multi-family and hospitality clientele. In this role, she oversaw both new construction and renovation projects, spanning from garden style to high-rise residential, active adult communities and student housing facilities, as well as limited and full-service hotels.
In her new position, Harris will play a vital role in a variety of Valor Hospitality projects, including Dunluce, Crowne Plaza Suffern, the recent U.K. properties acquired, Gulf State Park Cabins and more.
Chatham Lodging Trust
Chatham Lodging Trust, a lodging real estate investment trust (REIT), has appointed Ethel Isaacs Williams and David J. Grissen to the company’s board of trustees. Both Williams and Grissen will serve as independent directors.
Williams recently served from 2017-2020 as SVP at Kaufman Lynn Construction, one of South Florida’s largest construction companies, where her responsibilities included leading public affairs and community engagement efforts. Before joining Kaufman Lynn, from 2010-2017, she served as regional manager, external affairs for Florida Power & Light (FPL) and later director, corporate engagement, diversity and inclusion for NextEra Energy and parent company of FPL, where her responsibilities included managing local external stakeholder relations and developing corporate strategies and initiatives for employee engagement as well as diversity and inclusion initiatives, respectively.
In 2004, she founded the law firm of Isaacs Williams, which was focused on real estate, probate, land use and government relations. Prior to 2004, she held roles at other law firms, as well as IBM, Wang Laboratories and AT&T Wireless.
Grissen joins Chatham’s board after having recently retired as group president following a 35-year career at Marriott International Inc. He started at Marriott in 1986 and concluded his career as group president, where his responsibilities included the financial management and leadership of the America’s lodging operations, comprising more than 5,500 hotels and a workforce of approximately 160,000 associates. This included oversight of owner and franchise relations, sales and marketing, revenue management, human resources, engineering, rooms operations, food and beverage, retail, spa, golf, information resources and development. In addition to the Americas, Grissen was responsible for Marriott’s global operations organization, Ritz-Carlton and Edition brands.
Prior to his latest position, he served as group president, the Americans; president, Americas; EVP, Eastern region; SVP, mid-Atlantic region; and SVP, finance and business development. He currently serves on the board for Regis Corporation, a publicly traded company and the largest hair salon chain in the world, where he is a member of the audit committee, technology committee and chair of the nominating and governance committees. He also serves on the board of Greenwood Racing, a casino, online betting and thoroughbred racing company based in Pennsylvania.
Davidson Hospitality Group
Davidson Hospitality Group has appointed Linda Schumann as SVP, human resources and Carl Meyers as director, training and organizational development.
As the department head, all people experience programs will report up through Schumann in areas such as compliance, recruitment & retention, employee & labor relations, diversity & inclusion, performance management & succession planning, benefits and leave management, payroll, compensation and HR technology.
Schumann has more than 20 years of experience in senior leadership roles specifically in high growth organizations with leading edge HR practices. She partners with executive leadership to define, develop and lead global HR programs, processes and policies including but not limited to talent acquisition, compensation, benefits, performance management, employee relations, labor relations, training, retention, change management and safety/risk control, while ensuring that policies are in full compliance with all applicable labor laws. Previously, she served as SVP, human resources at OTG Management, where she drove a culture of performance, results and positive employee relations. Earlier career highlights include VP, human resources at Pyramid Hotel Group, and roles at both Pinnacle Hotels USA Inc. and Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc.
Meyers brings more than a decade of experience in designing, developing and leading talent initiatives in the hospitality industry. He recently held tenure at White Lodging Services, where he led the talent development function and created a catalog of training and development programs including a comprehensive leadership development curriculum, performance management platform, skills training programs for hourly and management associates, and oversaw implementation and day-to-day administration of the company’s learning management system.
JLL Hotels & Hospitality
JLL Hotels & Hospitality has added industry veteran Mike Wernet as SVP, asset management.
He is based at JLL’s Chicago headquarters and report directly to Andrea Grigg, senior managing director and head of global hotel asset management. He oversees the portfolio of diverse full- and select-service hotels located in key gateway markets throughout the U.S.
Prior, Wernet served as a VP, finance planning and analytics for RLJ Lodging Trust, where he initiated company-wide benchmarking to drive profitability and implemented new processes and reporting for cost containment during the pandemic. In addition, he spent 25 years at White Lodging Services Corporation, holding various leadership positions, including most recently serving as the VP, asset management and capital administration, where he managed and led firm-wide business planning and the annual budgeting process for more than 160 diverse assets.
