R.M. Woodworth & Associates (RMWA), a provider of customized lodging research, has named Hank Staley Jr. and Jill Bidwell principals of the firm, and long-time industry veteran Hank Fonde Jr. was appointed SVP.
The company also revealed that it has opened a Jacksonville, FL, office.
“We are fortunate to have been able to assemble a team with a broad base of expertise and length of experience that spans four complete lodging cycles here in the U.S.,” said Mark Woodworth, founding principal, RMWA. “We believe that the collective understanding of the drivers of change in hotel real estate profitability and value is critically important as all lodging industry participants work their way—willingly and unwillingly—through the protracted period of recovery following the Great Pandemic of 2020.”
Staley previously was responsible for managing CBRE Hotels’ advisory practice in the Southeast. He formerly served as SVP at PKF Consulting USA, managing partner of Atlantic Hospitality Advisors and SVP at Landauer Associates. With nearly 40 years of consulting experience, his primary focus is market analysis, valuation and dispute resolution services. He has analyzed lodging markets in 46 states and studied more than 2,500 hotels. He is a certified public accountant (CPA), a member of the Appraisal Institute (MAI designation), a counselor of real estate (CRE) and a member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC).
Prior to joining RMWA, Bidwell was senior director in CBRE Hotels’ advisory practice. She also was a partner in Atlantic Hospitality Advisors and holds the MAI designation. With 35 years of hospitality industry consulting experience, she has conducted market studies and appraisals throughout the continental U.S.
Fonde leads R.M. Woodworth & Associates’ asset management practice and provides advisory services for operations analyses, new development, franchise relations/negotiation, brand positioning, management company referral, contract negotiation and litigation support. He began his hospitality career 40 years ago with Holiday Inns Inc. Later, he joined a franchisee group and rose to president of the firm, developing, owning and operating hotels nationally. He more recently served as co-national practice leader for asset management for CBRE Hotels Advisory. He has served as court-appointed receiver, expert witness and chief restructuring officer for U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Fonde is an active member of the Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA) and was awarded Developer of the Year by Hilton in 2010.
“This is something of a reunion of sorts, as all three principals began our working relationship in the 1980s while at Laventhol & Horwath,” said Woodworth. “For the past 10 years, and up until early 2020, all four of us were colleagues at CBRE and its predecessor firm, PKF Consulting USA and PKF Hospitality Research, which CBRE acquired in 2014. With this team of experts firmly in place, we are more than prepared to continue providing the same types and levels of service upon which we each have built our reputations and careers.”
Prior to establishing his own firm, Woodworth, along with Cornell University’s Jack Corgel, founded PKF Hospitality Research in 1999. Like his new colleagues, Woodworth has managed and conducted consulting assignments, involving both public and private sector clients, throughout the U.S. The experience of the team at R.M. Woodworth & Associates extends to many of the industry’s leading lenders, developers, chains and management companies and has dealt with all aspects of management contract negotiation, operations, development and financing.
