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Club Management
Stephen C. Barth, J.D., CHE Expand/Collapse
President 
HospitalityLawyer.com
P.O. Box 22888
Houston, Texas 77227
(713) 963-8800 – Phone
(713) 627-9934 – Fax
Email: SBarth@HospitalityLawyer.com
Web Address: www.HospitalityLawyer.com
Stephen Barth, author of Hospitality Law and coauthor of Restaurant Law Basics, is an attorney and the founder of HospitalityLawyer.com. As a professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, he teaches courses in hospitality law and leadership. Prior to joining the faculty at the Conrad N. Hilton College, Stephen was an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University. He has over twenty years of experience in hospitality operations, including line positions, management, and ownership.
He is a member of a select group of instructors worldwide designated by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association to teach its Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) program.
Stephen is the legal editor for Lodging Hospitality magazine. His articles on legal issues in the hospitality industry also appear regularly in Club Management magazine and Midwest Foodservice News. He speaks regularly on many issues for the National Restaurant Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Club Managers Association, the National Association of Catering Executives, the Texas Hotel and Motel Association, the Texas Restaurant Association, and many other hospitality associations and hospitality management companies, including Four Seasons, Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, and Choice Hotels
Stephen earned his Law degree, Master of Arts in communications and a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in economics from Texas Tech University. He is an honorary member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. In 1995 he was recognized by the City of Houston for his accomplishments as a faculty member at the University of Houston, and in 1996 he received the Dean’s award for Teaching Excellence at the Conrad N. Hilton College, University of Houston. In 1998 Stephen was awarded the University Teaching Excellence Award, the highest recognition of teaching bestowed by the University of Houston. In 2000 he received the University of Houston’s Distance Education Award |
John Zaruka, Expand/Collapse
President
ZGolf Food & Beverage Advisors
79 Daily Dr., #300
Camarillo, California 93010
(800) 246-2087 – Phone
(805) 388-0984 – Fax
Email: zgolffb@prodigy.net
Web Address: www.z-golf.com
ZGolf Food and Beverage Advisors provide creative consulting exclusively for the food and beverage department of golf courses. ZGolf is the authority on hospitality services for the golf industry.
John Zaruka has over 30 years experience in the hotel, restaurant and golf industries. Throughout his high school and college years, John's family operated beach concessions and pitch-putt golf courses. John graduated from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University in 1973, then entered the hotel industry, primarily with the firm of Winegardner and Hammons Inc. His hotel experiences include positions of General Manager of large full-service hotels, Regional Manager, and Vice President of Hotel Operations. In 1986 he purchased a failing food and beverage facility on a municipal golf course and transformed this concession into a highly successful business. This golf course bar and grill and banquet operation continues to thrive today under ZGolf Management. The mission of ZGolf Food and Beverage Advisors is to share this knowledge and experience with course operators, administrators, and developers. |
Fred Smith & Eric Nusbaum, Expand/Collapse
Partners
Wheelwright Consultants
166 Harkness Road
Amherst, Massachusetts 01002
(413) 253-4632 – Phone
(413) 253-4632 – Fax
Email: Wheelwright@crocker.com
Web Address: www.WheelwrightConsultants.com
The wheelwright of the last century was a craftsman who made sure that the wheels he supplied were perfectly matched to the needs of his customer. Similarly, Eric Nusbaum and Fred Smith customize their work to the needs of their clients. Wheelwright Consultants has no "off the shelf" programs or solutions, but rather has an extensive base of more than 60 years of operational and educational experience upon which to draw for ideas and techniques which can be supplied to address a particular client need.
The wheelwright was a specialist who met the needs of a diverse clientele with a selection of services. Wheelwright Consultants specializes in meeting the needs of the hospitality and service industries with assistance in the areas of design, facilitated workshops, interim management, management advisory services, and training and development programs.
The wheelwright was a respected member of the business community. Eric Nusbaum and Fred Smith have been recognized for their abilities and professionalism in both operational and educational arenas. Eric and Fred are active with a number of professional organizations. Professional and client references are available. |
J. Dwayne Anderson CPA CHAE, Expand/Collapse
Financial Manager
J Dwayne Anderson CPA
1100 Nueces Street
Austin, Texas
(512) 481-9506 – Phone
Web Address: www.jdacpa1.com
An experienced financial manager with continued interest in hospitality financial management and accounting control.
J Dwayne Anderson CPA 1999 to Present
Certified Financial & Technical Management
Austin, Texas
- Owner/Proprietor
- Provide accounting and technical management services for various businesses.
- Provide computer system implementation and integration.
- Current clients are in hospitality, real estate development, oil and gas, and non-profit.
Current Private Club Clients
Austin Club 2000 to Present
Austin, Texas
Controller
- Manage accounting staff of private dining club on independent contractor basis.
- Produce monthly financial reports and review with General Manager.
- Manage annual independent audit and tax compliance.
- Manage information system through third party network administration firm.
Austin Golf Club 2003 to Present
Austin, Texas
Controller
- Provide turnkey accounting function to one of Texas’ most exclusive private golf clubs on independent contractor basis.
- Produce monthly financial reports and review with General Manager and club president.
- Manage annual tax and regulatory compliance.
- Provide recommendations for improvement of all levels of service and accounting control.
Balcones Country Club 2004 to Present
Austin, Texas
Chief Financial Officer
- Provide contract CFO services for 36-hole membership-association country club.
- Work extensively with Board of Directors and management in future business planning and financial modeling.
- Supervise budget processes and compliance and provide contract accounts payable and payroll processing.
Boot Ranch 2007 to Present
Fredericksburg, Texas
Controller
- Provide contract controller services and accounting leadership to upscale development club.
- Interact with management team spread across the United States as well as on-site accounting staff.
- Working to fully utilize club management system in preparation for opening of clubhouse village in May, 2009.
University of Texas Golf Club 2008 to Present
Austin, Texas
- Special Projects & Contract Accounts Payable
- Working to fully utilize club management system for better accounting of food and veverage operation in anticipation of clubhouse reconstruction to be complete is quarter 4, 2008.
- Utilized my staff to process accounts payable for weekly payables processing.
- Other special projects to include membership and dues reconciliation.
- Pre-development tax planning to help development partners take full advantage of tax-advantaged depreciation methods during initial construction of golf course.
Previous Private Clubs
Austin Country Club 1993 to 1999
Austin, Texas
Controller
- Presented Club's financial position both written and orally to eight-member Finance Committee on monthly basis.
- Managed all financial and fiscal business aspects of Texas’ oldest private non-profit country club.
- Supervised staff of twelve in Accounting, Human Resources, Purchasing, and Security departments.
Colonial Country Club 1988 to 1993
Fort Worth, Texas
Assistant Financial Manager
- Created monthly financial statements with budgets for 30 departments including six food and beverage outlets through use of 1700-account general ledger system.
- Managed $11 million fixed asset investment through use of 1600-record fixed asset system calculating five different depreciation books per asset. Streamlined this procedure from seventeen separate spreadsheets to this integrated system.
- Supervised 10-person cashier staff during annual P.G.A. Event, The Colonial National Invitation, including application of flexible staffing and scheduling required for large special events.
- Prepared Federal and State tax and regulatory returns.
Current Restaurant Clients
Main Street Grill/Traxx Restaurant 1999 to 2001
Round Rock, Texas 2005 to Present
Accountant
- Provide turnkey accounting services for local restaurant partnership on independent contractor basis through QuickBooks, Squirrel and Aloha point of sale systems.
- Implemented entire accounting and monthly reporting framework from startup.
- Managed all tax compliance and preparation.
OTHER SKILLS
Excellent computer skills including Jonas Club Systems, QuickBooks, Microsoft Office
EDUCATION & CERTIFICATION
Baylor University: BBA, Accounting, 1987
Certified Public Accountant: State of Texas since 1989
Certified Hospitality Accounting Executive & President of Greater Austin Chapter HFTP
REFERENCES
Joe Beck
Austin Golf Club
25400 Hwy 71 West
Spicewood, TX 78669
(512) 264-9787
joeb@golfagc.com
Jim Morgan
Balcones Country Club
8600 Balcones Club Drive
Austin, TX 78750
(512) 258-1621
jmorgan@balconescountryclub.com
John Dzurnak, CCM
The Austin Club, Retired
110 East Ninth Street
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 699-0177
dagreatdzs@aol.com
Steve Termeer
University of Texas Golf Club
2200 University Club Drive
Austin, TX 78732
(512) 266-6464
steve.termeer@utgolfclub.com
E. Powell Thompson
President
American Bank of Commerce
610 West 5th Street
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 391-5510
pthompson@theabcbank.com
Daniel B. Powell III
Brad Blessing
Powell Ebert & Smolik CPAs
515 Congress, 20th Floor
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 320-8000
dbp3@austincpa.com
brad@austincpa.com
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F & B Operations
John Zaruka, Expand/Collapse
President
ZGolf Food & Beverage Advisors
79 Daily Dr., #300
Camarillo, California 93010
(800) 246-2087 – Phone
(805) 388-0984 – Fax
Email: zgolffb@prodigy.net
Web Address: www.z-golf.com
ZGolf Food and Beverage Advisors provide creative consulting exclusively for the food and beverage department of golf courses. ZGolf is the authority on hospitality services for the golf industry.
John Zaruka has over 30 years experience in the hotel, restaurant and golf industries. Throughout his high school and college years, John's family operated beach concessions and pitch-putt golf courses. John graduated from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University in 1973, then entered the hotel industry, primarily with the firm of Winegardner and Hammons Inc. His hotel experiences include positions of General Manager of large full-service hotels, Regional Manager, and Vice President of Hotel Operations. In 1986 he purchased a failing food and beverage facility on a municipal golf course and transformed this concession into a highly successful business. This golf course bar and grill and banquet operation continues to thrive today under ZGolf Management. The mission of ZGolf Food and Beverage Advisors is to share this knowledge and experience with course operators, administrators, and developers. |
Fred Smith & Eric Nusbaum, Expand/Collapse
Partners
Wheelwright Consultants
166 Harkness Road
Amherst, Massachusetts 01002
(413) 253-4632 – Phone
(413) 253-4632 – Fax
Email: Wheelwright@crocker.com
Web Address: www.WheelwrightConsultants.com
The wheelwright of the last century was a craftsman who made sure that the wheels he supplied were perfectly matched to the needs of his customer. Similarly, Eric Nusbaum and Fred Smith customize their work to the needs of their clients. Wheelwright Consultants has no "off the shelf" programs or solutions, but rather has an extensive base of more than 60 years of operational and educational experience upon which to draw for ideas and techniques which can be supplied to address a particular client need.
The wheelwright was a specialist who met the needs of a diverse clientele with a selection of services. Wheelwright Consultants specializes in meeting the needs of the hospitality and service industries with assistance in the areas of design, facilitated workshops, interim management, management advisory services, and training and development programs.
The wheelwright was a respected member of the business community. Eric Nusbaum and Fred Smith have been recognized for their abilities and professionalism in both operational and educational arenas. Eric and Fred are active with a number of professional organizations. Professional and client references are available. |
Steven L. Belmonte , Expand/Collapse
President & CEO 
Hospitality Solutions, LLC
3 Golden Corner Way
Randolph, NJ 07869
(973) 598-0839 – Phone
(973) 927-4082 – Fax
Email: StevenBelmonte@aol.com
Web Address: www.stevenbelmonte.com
Since becoming the youngest general manager in the history of Holiday Inn at the age of 18 and later buying the hotel he started at, to holding the title of longest standing President of a national franchised hotel chain while at the helm of the Ramada hotel chain, Steven J. Belmonte brings new meaning to the phrase “from the mailroom to the Boardroom.”
In 2002, Belmonte returned to his entrepreneurial roots and launched Hospitality Solutions, LLC, a full-service, nationwide consultation firm specializing in lodging industry issues at the hotel and corporate level. Drawing on over 35 years of experience and key contacts both in and outside of the industry, Hospitality Solutions was specifically designed to offer fundamental services in an era of corporate mergers and right-sizing. Services include: expert witness and mediation services, litigation support, license agreement formulation or termination negotiation assistance, feasibility studies, market studies, ownership & development assistance, and motivational speaking. Belmonte is a member of the Board of Directors of Arlington Hospitality (NASDAQ/NM: HOST), serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee and is a former Member of Arlington’s Audit Committee Ad Hock/Strategic Development. In addition to his positions with Arlington Hospitality, Mr. Belmonte currently serves on the Board of Industry Relationships for the Asian American Hotel Owner’s Association, is an Adjunct Faculty Member of the Round Table Group and is a member of the Franchise Panel for the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution.
Prior to Hospitality Solutions, for nearly 11 years Belmonte was President and CEO of the Ramada hotel chain, which had over 1,000 hotels and nearly 135,000 hotel rooms throughout the United States. Major accomplishments included more than doubling the size of the chain, adding the Ramada Limited and Ramada Plaza Hotel tiers, and launching the bold "Ramada's In/Holiday's Out" advertising campaign. As part of his plan to solidly position the Ramada chain in the upper-mid-tier segment, Belmonte also masterminded the revolutionary customer service initiative, Personal Best Hospitality, which offered tuition reimbursement and a variety of other incentives to foster a career path in the hotel industry.
Belmonte’s commitment to give back to the industry where he made his career is also reflected by the positions he held: Chairman of the American Hotel Foundation (AHF) and Vice Chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF). Indeed, his dedication to tomorrow’s hospitality leaders is underscored by his work at the AH&LEF where, as past Chairman of its Fund Development Committee, Belmonte led the “Annual Hospitality Fund” for two years raising record amounts of funds to support the development of lodging operations programs in high schools, resources for research projects and scholarship programs. Most recently, Belmonte chaired the AHF's ambitious "New Century Fund Campaign" in which a record $9.2 million was raised.
As former Chairman of the Honorary Board with Childreach (formerly Foster Parents Plan) and recipient of its prestigious Humanitas Award, Belmonte’s passion for helping others has left a well-traveled path dotted with monuments of goodwill. In Africa, Belmonte spearheaded the construction of two medical facilities, a Food and Science Laboratory, a Youth Center in Cairo, and The New Belmonte Library for the Hotel and Tourism Institute in Zambia, Africa complete with an internet connection to encourage the training of aspiring hotel industry leaders. In recognition of his unwavering dedication, the Hotel & Catering International Management Association (H.C.I.M.A.) named Belmonte an Honorary Fellow for his support of the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Trust in Lusaka, Zambia.
Belmonte was also at the forefront of a $100,000 donation to rebuild a school in the Dominican Republic destroyed by a hurricane. While there, Belmonte personally funded the construction of a massive playground and filmed fundraising commercials for Childreach. Acting as both Childreach sponsor and president of the Ramada hotel chain in the TV commercials, over $1.2 million in new sponsorships for the organization was raised in less than a year. Belmonte continued as Childreach’s national television spokesperson until 2003. Further underscoring Belmonte's propensity to give, the American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat-al-Salam, a community of Jews and Arabs coexisting in peace in Israel, presented Belmonte with its first ever Ambassador of Peace Humanitarian Award for his charitable endeavors in the area.
For a combination of historic charitable and business accomplishments, Belmonte was also the recipient of the prestigious 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by Roosevelt University in Chicago. Belmonte recently donated funds to the AH&LEF, which was used to establish the “Steven J. Belmonte Scholarship Fund for Roosevelt University in Chicago.”
Prior to his position at Ramada, Belmonte was the President and CEO of Equity Hotel Corporation, a hotel management firm that he co-founded in 1984 and nurtured to become one of the top ten management companies in the industry. A variety of hotel brands made up the 35 property Equity portfolio, which, in addition to his diverse experiences as a franchisee and general manager, equipped Belmonte with a broad range of expertise in the franchised hotel industry. |
Mike Green, Expand/Collapse
President
Green and Associates Mystery Shopping
P.O. Box 9869
College Station, Texas 77845
(800) 677-2260 – Phone
(979) 693-7904 – Fax
Email: Mgreen@greenandassociates.com
Web Address: www.greenandassociates.com
Green & Associates is a national mystery shopping and service evaluation company specializing in the hospitality industry which has performed evaluations for restaurants, clubs, hotels and retail operations from coast to coast. In 1997 they also added clients internationally. Green & Associates client list includes nationally recognized companies as well as independent operators.
Mike Green, owner, has more than 15 years experience in the hospitality industry. He graduated from the University of New Orleans with a degree in Hotel Restaurant and Tourism, and was one of the firsts in the country to attain the designation of a Certified Food Service Professional by the National Restaurant Association. His hands-on management experience allows him to "speak the language" and understand the needs of operators.
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Paul L. Laesecke, Expand/Collapse
Senior Lecturer 
School of Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Management
University of Denver
2030 East Evans Avenue
Denver, Colorado 80208
(303) 871-4270 – Phone
(303) 871-4260 – Fax
Email: PLaeseck@du.edu
Paul brings an interesting mix of education and practical experience to the University of Denver. In addition to teaching lodging and food service management in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, he teaches management and human resources management in the undergraduate business core of the Daniels College of Business. In the MBA program he teaches the capstone course which integrates various business disciplines and applies them to a local business case situation. He is an Outdoor Leadership Experience Facilitator in the MBA and Executive MBA programs and serves on the Applied Scholarship Committee.
Prior to coming to D.U., Paul provided recruitment and management development expertise at the corporate level for Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and Holiday Inn, Inc. While working for Wyndham, he also worked as Food and Beverage Director in Jamaica and St. Lucia, W.I. He was one of the founders and also President of T.G.I.F. Texas, Inc., a publicly held franchisee of TGI Friday's. |
Patricia Meyer, Expand/Collapse
President 
Meyer Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 44930
Washington, D.C. 20026-4930
(202) 462-2792 – Phone
(202) 462-2792 – Fax
Email: PatMeyer@cais.com
Web Address: www.MeyerAssoc.net
Patricia Meyer, MSW, LICSW, has developed workplace violence prevention strategies for restaurants, medical facilities, private sector businesses and government agencies. She has worked with management and unions to develop safer workplaces. She is a consultant with the National Restaurant Association's Health and Safety Regulatory Affairs Department. She has also been a contributor to national trade publications on the topic of workplace violence prevention and is the author of the Workplace Violence Prevention chapter in the American Medical Association's Health and Safety Handbook published in the fall of 2000.
Pat, who is trained in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, has a Master's Degree in Social Work and is a licensed clinical therapist. Her experience includes:
- Presenting grief counseling and anger management seminars for employees following such incidents as an employee's murder, an employee's suicide and a weapon brought to the worksite to threaten colleagues;
- Providing stress management support for the recovery/rescue workers after the Oklahoma City Bombing incident;
- Developing conflict resolution training seminars for hospitality, computer and service industry companies;
- Consulting with businesses around the country that are developing their own violence prevention programs;
- Advisory Board Member for HospitalityLawyer.com, an online resource providing legal, safety and security information for the hospitality industry.
The team at Meyer Associates, Inc. under Pat's leadership brings more than 50 years of collective experience in crisis intervention to the critical problem of workplace violence prevention providing industry with a definitive means of coping with this problem. |
Stephen C. Barth, J.D., CHE Expand/Collapse
President 
HospitalityLawyer.com
P.O. Box 22888
Houston, Texas 77227
(713) 963-8800 – Phone
(713) 627-9934 – Fax
Email: SBarth@HospitalityLawyer.com
Web Address: www.HospitalityLawyer.com
Stephen Barth, author of Hospitality Law and coauthor of Restaurant Law Basics, is an attorney and the founder of HospitalityLawyer.com. As a professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, he teaches courses in hospitality law and leadership. Prior to joining the faculty at the Conrad N. Hilton College, Stephen was an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University. He has over twenty years of experience in hospitality operations, including line positions, management, and ownership.
He is a member of a select group of instructors worldwide designated by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association to teach its Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) program.
Stephen is the legal editor for Lodging Hospitality magazine. His articles on legal issues in the hospitality industry also appear regularly in Club Management magazine and Midwest Foodservice News. He speaks regularly on many issues for the National Restaurant Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Club Managers Association, the National Association of Catering Executives, the Texas Hotel and Motel Association, the Texas Restaurant Association, and many other hospitality associations and hospitality management companies, including Four Seasons, Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, and Choice Hotels
Stephen earned his Law degree, Master of Arts in communications and a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in economics from Texas Tech University. He is an honorary member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. In 1995 he was recognized by the City of Houston for his accomplishments as a faculty member at the University of Houston, and in 1996 he received the Dean’s award for Teaching Excellence at the Conrad N. Hilton College, University of Houston. In 1998 Stephen was awarded the University Teaching Excellence Award, the highest recognition of teaching bestowed by the University of Houston. In 2000 he received the University of Houston’s Distance Education Award
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Finance & Accounting
Steven L. Belmonte ,
Expand/Collapse
President & CEO 
Hospitality Solutions, LLC
3 Golden Corner Way
Randolph, NJ 07869
(973) 598-0839 – Phone
(973) 927-4082 – Fax
Email: StevenBelmonte@aol.com
Web Address: www.stevenbelmonte.com
Since becoming the youngest general manager in the history of Holiday Inn at the age of 18 and later buying the hotel he started at, to holding the title of longest standing President of a national franchised hotel chain while at the helm of the Ramada hotel chain, Steven J. Belmonte brings new meaning to the phrase “from the mailroom to the Boardroom.”
In 2002, Belmonte returned to his entrepreneurial roots and launched Hospitality Solutions, LLC, a full-service, nationwide consultation firm specializing in lodging industry issues at the hotel and corporate level. Drawing on over 35 years of experience and key contacts both in and outside of the industry, Hospitality Solutions was specifically designed to offer fundamental services in an era of corporate mergers and right-sizing. Services include: expert witness and mediation services, litigation support, license agreement formulation or termination negotiation assistance, feasibility studies, market studies, ownership & development assistance, and motivational speaking. Belmonte is a member of the Board of Directors of Arlington Hospitality (NASDAQ/NM: HOST), serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee and is a former Member of Arlington’s Audit Committee Ad Hock/Strategic Development. In addition to his positions with Arlington Hospitality, Mr. Belmonte currently serves on the Board of Industry Relationships for the Asian American Hotel Owner’s Association, is an Adjunct Faculty Member of the Round Table Group and is a member of the Franchise Panel for the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution.
Prior to Hospitality Solutions, for nearly 11 years Belmonte was President and CEO of the Ramada hotel chain, which had over 1,000 hotels and nearly 135,000 hotel rooms throughout the United States. Major accomplishments included more than doubling the size of the chain, adding the Ramada Limited and Ramada Plaza Hotel tiers, and launching the bold "Ramada's In/Holiday's Out" advertising campaign. As part of his plan to solidly position the Ramada chain in the upper-mid-tier segment, Belmonte also masterminded the revolutionary customer service initiative, Personal Best Hospitality, which offered tuition reimbursement and a variety of other incentives to foster a career path in the hotel industry.
Belmonte’s commitment to give back to the industry where he made his career is also reflected by the positions he held: Chairman of the American Hotel Foundation (AHF) and Vice Chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF). Indeed, his dedication to tomorrow’s hospitality leaders is underscored by his work at the AH&LEF where, as past Chairman of its Fund Development Committee, Belmonte led the “Annual Hospitality Fund” for two years raising record amounts of funds to support the development of lodging operations programs in high schools, resources for research projects and scholarship programs. Most recently, Belmonte chaired the AHF's ambitious "New Century Fund Campaign" in which a record $9.2 million was raised.
As former Chairman of the Honorary Board with Childreach (formerly Foster Parents Plan) and recipient of its prestigious Humanitas Award, Belmonte’s passion for helping others has left a well-traveled path dotted with monuments of goodwill. In Africa, Belmonte spearheaded the construction of two medical facilities, a Food and Science Laboratory, a Youth Center in Cairo, and The New Belmonte Library for the Hotel and Tourism Institute in Zambia, Africa complete with an internet connection to encourage the training of aspiring hotel industry leaders. In recognition of his unwavering dedication, the Hotel & Catering International Management Association (H.C.I.M.A.) named Belmonte an Honorary Fellow for his support of the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Trust in Lusaka, Zambia.
Belmonte was also at the forefront of a $100,000 donation to rebuild a school in the Dominican Republic destroyed by a hurricane. While there, Belmonte personally funded the construction of a massive playground and filmed fundraising commercials for Childreach. Acting as both Childreach sponsor and president of the Ramada hotel chain in the TV commercials, over $1.2 million in new sponsorships for the organization was raised in less than a year. Belmonte continued as Childreach’s national television spokesperson until 2003. Further underscoring Belmonte's propensity to give, the American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat-al-Salam, a community of Jews and Arabs coexisting in peace in Israel, presented Belmonte with its first ever Ambassador of Peace Humanitarian Award for his charitable endeavors in the area.
For a combination of historic charitable and business accomplishments, Belmonte was also the recipient of the prestigious 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by Roosevelt University in Chicago. Belmonte recently donated funds to the AH&LEF, which was used to establish the “Steven J. Belmonte Scholarship Fund for Roosevelt University in Chicago.”
Prior to his position at Ramada, Belmonte was the President and CEO of Equity Hotel Corporation, a hotel management firm that he co-founded in 1984 and nurtured to become one of the top ten management companies in the industry. A variety of hotel brands made up the 35 property Equity portfolio, which, in addition to his diverse experiences as a franchisee and general manager, equipped Belmonte with a broad range of expertise in the franchised hotel industry.
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Insurance
Steven L. Belmonte , Expand/Collapse
President & CEO 
Hospitality Solutions, LLC
3 Golden Corner Way
Randolph, NJ 07869
(973) 598-0839 – Phone
(973) 927-4082 – Fax
Email: StevenBelmonte@aol.com
Web Address: www.stevenbelmonte.com
Since becoming the youngest general manager in the history of Holiday Inn at the age of 18 and later buying the hotel he started at, to holding the title of longest standing President of a national franchised hotel chain while at the helm of the Ramada hotel chain, Steven J. Belmonte brings new meaning to the phrase “from the mailroom to the Boardroom.”
In 2002, Belmonte returned to his entrepreneurial roots and launched Hospitality Solutions, LLC, a full-service, nationwide consultation firm specializing in lodging industry issues at the hotel and corporate level. Drawing on over 35 years of experience and key contacts both in and outside of the industry, Hospitality Solutions was specifically designed to offer fundamental services in an era of corporate mergers and right-sizing. Services include: expert witness and mediation services, litigation support, license agreement formulation or termination negotiation assistance, feasibility studies, market studies, ownership & development assistance, and motivational speaking. Belmonte is a member of the Board of Directors of Arlington Hospitality (NASDAQ/NM: HOST), serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee and is a former Member of Arlington’s Audit Committee Ad Hock/Strategic Development. In addition to his positions with Arlington Hospitality, Mr. Belmonte currently serves on the Board of Industry Relationships for the Asian American Hotel Owner’s Association, is an Adjunct Faculty Member of the Round Table Group and is a member of the Franchise Panel for the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution.
Prior to Hospitality Solutions, for nearly 11 years Belmonte was President and CEO of the Ramada hotel chain, which had over 1,000 hotels and nearly 135,000 hotel rooms throughout the United States. Major accomplishments included more than doubling the size of the chain, adding the Ramada Limited and Ramada Plaza Hotel tiers, and launching the bold "Ramada's In/Holiday's Out" advertising campaign. As part of his plan to solidly position the Ramada chain in the upper-mid-tier segment, Belmonte also masterminded the revolutionary customer service initiative, Personal Best Hospitality, which offered tuition reimbursement and a variety of other incentives to foster a career path in the hotel industry.
Belmonte’s commitment to give back to the industry where he made his career is also reflected by the positions he held: Chairman of the American Hotel Foundation (AHF) and Vice Chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF). Indeed, his dedication to tomorrow’s hospitality leaders is underscored by his work at the AH&LEF where, as past Chairman of its Fund Development Committee, Belmonte led the “Annual Hospitality Fund” for two years raising record amounts of funds to support the development of lodging operations programs in high schools, resources for research projects and scholarship programs. Most recently, Belmonte chaired the AHF's ambitious "New Century Fund Campaign" in which a record $9.2 million was raised.
As former Chairman of the Honorary Board with Childreach (formerly Foster Parents Plan) and recipient of its prestigious Humanitas Award, Belmonte’s passion for helping others has left a well-traveled path dotted with monuments of goodwill. In Africa, Belmonte spearheaded the construction of two medical facilities, a Food and Science Laboratory, a Youth Center in Cairo, and The New Belmonte Library for the Hotel and Tourism Institute in Zambia, Africa complete with an internet connection to encourage the training of aspiring hotel industry leaders. In recognition of his unwavering dedication, the Hotel & Catering International Management Association (H.C.I.M.A.) named Belmonte an Honorary Fellow for his support of the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Trust in Lusaka, Zambia.
Belmonte was also at the forefront of a $100,000 donation to rebuild a school in the Dominican Republic destroyed by a hurricane. While there, Belmonte personally funded the construction of a massive playground and filmed fundraising commercials for Childreach. Acting as both Childreach sponsor and president of the Ramada hotel chain in the TV commercials, over $1.2 million in new sponsorships for the organization was raised in less than a year. Belmonte continued as Childreach’s national television spokesperson until 2003. Further underscoring Belmonte's propensity to give, the American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat-al-Salam, a community of Jews and Arabs coexisting in peace in Israel, presented Belmonte with its first ever Ambassador of Peace Humanitarian Award for his charitable endeavors in the area.
For a combination of historic charitable and business accomplishments, Belmonte was also the recipient of the prestigious 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by Roosevelt University in Chicago. Belmonte recently donated funds to the AH&LEF, which was used to establish the “Steven J. Belmonte Scholarship Fund for Roosevelt University in Chicago.”
Prior to his position at Ramada, Belmonte was the President and CEO of Equity Hotel Corporation, a hotel management firm that he co-founded in 1984 and nurtured to become one of the top ten management companies in the industry. A variety of hotel brands made up the 35 property Equity portfolio, which, in addition to his diverse experiences as a franchisee and general manager, equipped Belmonte with a broad range of expertise in the franchised hotel industry.
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Stephen C. Barth, J.D., CHE Expand/Collapse
President 
HospitalityLawyer.com
P.O. Box 22888
Houston, Texas 77227
(713) 963-8800 – Phone
(713) 627-9934 – Fax
Email: SBarth@HospitalityLawyer.com
Web Address: www.HospitalityLawyer.com
Stephen Barth, author of Hospitality Law and coauthor of Restaurant Law Basics, is an attorney and the founder of HospitalityLawyer.com. As a professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, he teaches courses in hospitality law and leadership. Prior to joining the faculty at the Conrad N. Hilton College, Stephen was an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University. He has over twenty years of experience in hospitality operations, including line positions, management, and ownership.
He is a member of a select group of instructors worldwide designated by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association to teach its Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) program.
Stephen is the legal editor for Lodging Hospitality magazine. His articles on legal issues in the hospitality industry also appear regularly in Club Management magazine and Midwest Foodservice News. He speaks regularly on many issues for the National Restaurant Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Club Managers Association, the National Association of Catering Executives, the Texas Hotel and Motel Association, the Texas Restaurant Association, and many other hospitality associations and hospitality management companies, including Four Seasons, Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, and Choice Hotels
Stephen earned his Law degree, Master of Arts in communications and a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in economics from Texas Tech University. He is an honorary member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. In 1995 he was recognized by the City of Houston for his accomplishments as a faculty member at the University of Houston, and in 1996 he received the Dean’s award for Teaching Excellence at the Conrad N. Hilton College, University of Houston. In 1998 Stephen was awarded the University Teaching Excellence Award, the highest recognition of teaching bestowed by the University of Houston. In 2000 he received the University of Houston’s Distance Education Award
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Lodging Operations
Stephen C. Barth, J.D., CHE Expand/Collapse
President 
HospitalityLawyer.com
P.O. Box 22888
Houston, Texas 77227
(713) 963-8800 – Phone
(713) 627-9934 – Fax
Email: SBarth@HospitalityLawyer.com
Web Address: www.HospitalityLawyer.com
Stephen Barth, author of Hospitality Law and coauthor of Restaurant Law Basics, is an attorney and the founder of HospitalityLawyer.com. As a professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, he teaches courses in hospitality law and leadership. Prior to joining the faculty at the Conrad N. Hilton College, Stephen was an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University. He has over twenty years of experience in hospitality operations, including line positions, management, and ownership.
He is a member of a select group of instructors worldwide designated by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association to teach its Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) program.
Stephen is the legal editor for Lodging Hospitality magazine. His articles on legal issues in the hospitality industry also appear regularly in Club Management magazine and Midwest Foodservice News. He speaks regularly on many issues for the National Restaurant Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Club Managers Association, the National Association of Catering Executives, the Texas Hotel and Motel Association, the Texas Restaurant Association, and many other hospitality associations and hospitality management companies, including Four Seasons, Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, and Choice Hotels
Stephen earned his Law degree, Master of Arts in communications and a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in economics from Texas Tech University. He is an honorary member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. In 1995 he was recognized by the City of Houston for his accomplishments as a faculty member at the University of Houston, and in 1996 he received the Dean’s award for Teaching Excellence at the Conrad N. Hilton College, University of Houston. In 1998 Stephen was awarded the University Teaching Excellence Award, the highest recognition of teaching bestowed by the University of Houston. In 2000 he received the University of Houston’s Distance Education Award
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Thomas G. Davis, CHA, CLSD, Expand/Collapse
President
Security Litigation Group, Inc.
6099 Riverside Drive, Suite 102
Dublin, Ohio 43017
(614) 793-1614 – Phone
(614) 793-1965 – Fax
Email: ThomDavis@SecurityLitigation.com
Web Address: www.securitylitigation.com
Thomas G. Davis, President and Founder of Security Litigation Group, Inc., provides case evaluation services and expert testimony in premises security cases throughout the United States and the Caribbean. Mr. Davis has provided expert testimony since 1990 and has been involved in hotel security and loss prevention management since 1975. He has been qualified as an expert witness in both state and federal courts.
His areas of expertise include adequate and inadequate security; hotels; motels; apartments; office buildings; hospitals; banks; casinos; shopping centers; strip malls; universities and colleges; transportation companies; parking lots and parking garages; retail establishments; and violent crimes including homicide and sexual assault.
Mr. Davis is also President of Hospitality Risk Controls, a nationwide company established in 1990 that provides safety and security consulting to the hospitality industry. Mr. Davis has conducted numerous security seminars for various corporate, state, and national organizations and has reviewed the security and safety programs for hundreds of lodging properties in North America, evaluating security systems, procedures, and methods of dealing with security hazards, OSHA compliance, and safety risks.
Mr. Davis is the security consultant to the American Hotel and Motel Association, the trade association that represents the lodging industry in the United States. As a long-standing member of the AH&MA, he has participated in the preparation of safety and security materials for the Educational Institute of the AH&MA, an affiliate organization that provides training and educational materials for the lodging industry. Mr. Davis has been active with the AH&MA since the mid-1980s and has been a member and past chairman of its security committee. Mr. Davis is also a member of the Hospitality and Themed Entertainment Security Committee of the American Society for Industrial Security.
The Educational Institute has certified Mr. Davis as a Hotel Administrator and Lodging Security Director. The Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) designation is the foremost symbol of professional achievement for lodging executives and the Certified Lodging Security Director (CLSD) designation applies to lodging security directors and executives.
In the early 1980s, as President of Hotel Security Services, Inc., Mr. Davis provided security officer services and security consulting to hotels, apartments, condominiums, and office buildings in Columbus, Ohio. He was Corporate Director of Loss Prevention for Boykin Management Company, a hotel management company that operates Marriott, Hilton, Quality Inns, and Radisson Hotels. As corporate director for 10 years, Mr. Davis designed, implemented, and managed its Loss Prevention program.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Davis was a member of the Columbus, Ohio Police Department for 10 years. The bulk of his police career was spent in the Homicide Division. He also worked in the Vice, Burglary, Robbery, Sexual Assault, and Narcotics squads. Mr. Davis retired from the department in 1982.
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Paul L. Laesecke, Expand/Collapse
Senior Lecturer 
School of Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Management
University of Denver
2030 East Evans Avenue
Denver, Colorado 80208
(303) 871-4270 – Phone
(303) 871-4260 – Fax
Email: PLaeseck@du.edu
Paul brings an interesting mix of education and practical experience to the University of Denver. In addition to teaching lodging and food service management in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, he teaches management and human resources management in the undergraduate business core of the Daniels College of Business. In the MBA program he teaches the capstone course which integrates various business disciplines and applies them to a local business case situation. He is an Outdoor Leadership Experience Facilitator in the MBA and Executive MBA programs and serves on the Applied Scholarship Committee.
Prior to coming to D.U., Paul provided recruitment and management development expertise at the corporate level for Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and Holiday Inn, Inc. While working for Wyndham, he also worked as Food and Beverage Director in Jamaica and St. Lucia, W.I. He was one of the founders and also President of T.G.I.F. Texas, Inc., a publicly held franchisee of TGI Friday's.
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Morris E. Lasky, Expand/Collapse
Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the LUI Group 
Lodging Unlimited, Inc.
University of Denver
505 N. Lake Shore Drive, #6309
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 595 1390 – Phone
Email: mlasky@aol.com
Morris E. Lasky, chief executive officer and founder of the LUI Group, has worked in the hospitality industry for more than 40 years.
He formed Lodging Unlimited in 1970 to provide quality management, consulting and marketing services to the hospitality industry. During the past 38 years, he has successfully directed Lodging Unlimited in $6 billion of management activity, development, real estate and financing.
From 1962 to 1970, he served as senior vice president of American Motor Inns, a Helmsley-Spears, Inc. subsidiary formed to acquire troubled hospitality properties. He began his hospitality career in 1956 with Motel Enterprises, Inc. as a general manager and was promoted to vice president of operations for the entire chain at age 23.
Mr. Lasky has testified as an expert witness in multi-million dollar cases involving nationally recognized hotel brands realizing success in many areas of litigation including re-negotiation of management contracts, franchise agreements, impact issues, and reasonableness of proposed lease and land values.
Mr. Lasky is a member of the prestigious "Waldorf=Astoria Distinguished Alumni" group, and has been featured in many major business publications such as, Time, Business Week, and Success. He has also appeared in the hotel, real estate and financial trade press. In addition, he has also been a guest lecturer for many hospitality, banking, and pension administration groups.
Mr. Lasky is chairman and co-founder of The Lodging Conference, now in its 14th successful year, www.lodgingconference.com, and founder and producer of the 6th annual International Hotel Conference 2008 at the Rome Cavalieri Hilton, Italy, www.internationalhotelconference.com. He has been a guest lecturer at The School of Hospitality Business, Michigan State University and a panelist for the University of Delaware’s Hotel Restaurant & Institutional Management roundtable series as part of Mind Extension University’s cable programming.
In addition to being a member of the organizing committees for Rudnick & Wolfe’s Lodging and Timeshare Summit and the ABA/IPBA Joint Seminar on International Hotels, Resorts & Tourism held in Spain, Mr. Lasky has been a member of the speaker faculty for these events. He has also participated in the International Multicultural Tourism/Hotel Ownership Summit.
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Patricia Meyer, Expand/Collapse
President 
Meyer Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 44930
Washington, D.C. 20026-4930
(202) 462-2792 – Phone
(202) 462-2792 – Fax
Email: PatMeyer@cais.com
Web Address: www.MeyerAssoc.net
Patricia Meyer, MSW, LICSW, has developed workplace
violence prevention strategies for restaurants, medical facilities, private sector businesses and government agencies. She has worked with management and unions to develop safer workplaces. She is a consultant with the National Restaurant Association's Health and Safety Regulatory Affairs Department. She has also been a contributor to national trade publications on the topic of workplace violence prevention and is the author of the Workplace Violence Prevention chapter in the American Medical Association's Health and Safety Handbook published in the fall of 2000.
Pat, who is trained in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, has a Master's Degree in Social Work and is a licensed clinical therapist. Her experience includes:
- Presenting grief counseling and anger management seminars for employees following such incidents as an employee's murder, an employee's suicide and a weapon brought to the worksite to threaten colleagues;
- Providing stress management support for the recovery/rescue workers after the Oklahoma City Bombing incident;
- Developing conflict resolution training seminars for hospitality, computer and service industry companies;
- Consulting with businesses around the country that are developing their own violence prevention programs;
- Advisory Board Member for HospitalityLawyer.com, an online resource providing legal, safety and security information for the hospitality industry.
The team at Meyer Associates, Inc. under Pat's leadership brings more than 50 years of collective experience in crisis intervention to the critical problem of workplace violence prevention providing industry with a definitive means of coping with this problem. |
Fred Smith & Eric Nusbaum, Expand/Collapse
Partners
Wheelwright Consultants
166 Harkness Road
Amherst, Massachusetts 01002
(413) 253-4632 – Phone
(413) 253-4632 – Fax
Email: Wheelwright@crocker.com
Web Address: www.WheelwrightConsultants.com
The wheelwright of the last century was a craftsman who made sure that the wheels he supplied were perfectly matched to the needs of his customer. Similarly, Eric Nusbaum and Fred Smith customize their work to the needs of their clients. Wheelwright Consultants has no "off the shelf" programs or solutions, but rather has an extensive base of more than 60 years of operational and educational experience upon which to draw for ideas and techniques which can be supplied to address a particular client need.
The wheelwright was a specialist who met the needs of a diverse clientele with a selection of services. Wheelwright Consultants specializes in meeting the needs of the hospitality and service industries with assistance in the areas of design, facilitated workshops, interim management, management advisory services, and training and development programs.
The wheelwright was a respected member of the business community. Eric Nusbaum and Fred Smith have been recognized for their abilities and professionalism in both operational and educational arenas. Eric and Fred are active with a number of professional organizations. Professional and client references are available.
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Steven L. Belmonte , Expand/Collapse
President & CEO 
Hospitality Solutions, LLC
3 Golden Corner Way
Randolph, NJ 07869
(973) 598-0839 – Phone
(973) 927-4082 – Fax
Email: StevenBelmonte@aol.com
Web Address: www.stevenbelmonte.com
Since becoming the youngest general manager in the history of Holiday Inn at the age of 18 and later buying the hotel he started at, to holding the title of longest standing President of a national franchised hotel chain while at the helm of the Ramada hotel chain, Steven J. Belmonte brings new meaning to the phrase “from the mailroom to the Boardroom.”
In 2002, Belmonte returned to his entrepreneurial roots and launched Hospitality Solutions, LLC, a full-service, nationwide consultation firm specializing in lodging industry issues at the hotel and corporate level. Drawing on over 35 years of experience and key contacts both in and outside of the industry, Hospitality Solutions was specifically designed to offer fundamental services in an era of corporate mergers and right-sizing. Services include: expert witness and mediation services, litigation support, license agreement formulation or termination negotiation assistance, feasibility studies, market studies, ownership & development assistance, and motivational speaking. Belmonte is a member of the Board of Directors of Arlington Hospitality (NASDAQ/NM: HOST), serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee and is a former Member of Arlington’s Audit Committee Ad Hock/Strategic Development. In addition to his positions with Arlington Hospitality, Mr. Belmonte currently serves on the Board of Industry Relationships for the Asian American Hotel Owner’s Association, is an Adjunct Faculty Member of the Round Table Group and is a member of the Franchise Panel for the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution.
Prior to Hospitality Solutions, for nearly 11 years Belmonte was President and CEO of the Ramada hotel chain, which had over 1,000 hotels and nearly 135,000 hotel rooms throughout the United States. Major accomplishments included more than doubling the size of the chain, adding the Ramada Limited and Ramada Plaza Hotel tiers, and launching the bold "Ramada's In/Holiday's Out" advertising campaign. As part of his plan to solidly position the Ramada chain in the upper-mid-tier segment, Belmonte also masterminded the revolutionary customer service initiative, Personal Best Hospitality, which offered tuition reimbursement and a variety of other incentives to foster a career path in the hotel industry.
Belmonte’s commitment to give back to the industry where he made his career is also reflected by the positions he held: Chairman of the American Hotel Foundation (AHF) and Vice Chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF). Indeed, his dedication to tomorrow’s hospitality leaders is underscored by his work at the AH&LEF where, as past Chairman of its Fund Development Committee, Belmonte led the “Annual Hospitality Fund” for two years raising record amounts of funds to support the development of lodging operations programs in high schools, resources for research projects and scholarship programs. Most recently, Belmonte chaired the AHF's ambitious "New Century Fund Campaign" in which a record $9.2 million was raised.
As former Chairman of the Honorary Board with Childreach (formerly Foster Parents Plan) and recipient of its prestigious Humanitas Award, Belmonte’s passion for helping others has left a well-traveled path dotted with monuments of goodwill. In Africa, Belmonte spearheaded the construction of two medical facilities, a Food and Science Laboratory, a Youth Center in Cairo, and The New Belmonte Library for the Hotel and Tourism Institute in Zambia, Africa complete with an internet connection to encourage the training of aspiring hotel industry leaders. In recognition of his unwavering dedication, the Hotel & Catering International Management Association (H.C.I.M.A.) named Belmonte an Honorary Fellow for his support of the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Trust in Lusaka, Zambia.
Belmonte was also at the forefront of a $100,000 donation to rebuild a school in the Dominican Republic destroyed by a hurricane. While there, Belmonte personally funded the construction of a massive playground and filmed fundraising commercials for Childreach. Acting as both Childreach sponsor and president of the Ramada hotel chain in the TV commercials, over $1.2 million in new sponsorships for the organization was raised in less than a year. Belmonte continued as Childreach’s national television spokesperson until 2003. Further underscoring Belmonte's propensity to give, the American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat-al-Salam, a community of Jews and Arabs coexisting in peace in Israel, presented Belmonte with its first ever Ambassador of Peace Humanitarian Award for his charitable endeavors in the area.
For a combination of historic charitable and business accomplishments, Belmonte was also the recipient of the prestigious 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by Roosevelt University in Chicago. Belmonte recently donated funds to the AH&LEF, which was used to establish the “Steven J. Belmonte Scholarship Fund for Roosevelt University in Chicago.”
Prior to his position at Ramada, Belmonte was the President and CEO of Equity Hotel Corporation, a hotel management firm that he co-founded in 1984 and nurtured to become one of the top ten management companies in the industry. A variety of hotel brands made up the 35 property Equity portfolio, which, in addition to his diverse experiences as a franchisee and general manager, equipped Belmonte with a broad range of expertise in the franchised hotel industry.
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Miscellaneous
Steven L. Belmonte , Expand/Collapse
President & CEO 
Hospitality Solutions, LLC
3 Golden Corner Way
Randolph, NJ 07869
(973) 598-0839 – Phone
(973) 927-4082 – Fax
Email: StevenBelmonte@aol.com
Web Address: www.stevenbelmonte.com
Since becoming the youngest general manager in the history of Holiday Inn at the age of 18 and later buying the hotel he started at, to holding the title of longest standing President of a national franchised hotel chain while at the helm of the Ramada hotel chain, Steven J. Belmonte brings new meaning to the phrase “from the mailroom to the Boardroom.”
In 2002, Belmonte returned to his entrepreneurial roots and launched Hospitality Solutions, LLC, a full-service, nationwide consultation firm specializing in lodging industry issues at the hotel and corporate level. Drawing on over 35 years of experience and key contacts both in and outside of the industry, Hospitality Solutions was specifically designed to offer fundamental services in an era of corporate mergers and right-sizing. Services include: expert witness and mediation services, litigation support, license agreement formulation or termination negotiation assistance, feasibility studies, market studies, ownership & development assistance, and motivational speaking. Belmonte is a member of the Board of Directors of Arlington Hospitality (NASDAQ/NM: HOST), serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee and is a former Member of Arlington’s Audit Committee Ad Hock/Strategic Development. In addition to his positions with Arlington Hospitality, Mr. Belmonte currently serves on the Board of Industry Relationships for the Asian American Hotel Owner’s Association, is an Adjunct Faculty Member of the Round Table Group and is a member of the Franchise Panel for the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution.
Prior to Hospitality Solutions, for nearly 11 years Belmonte was President and CEO of the Ramada hotel chain, which had over 1,000 hotels and nearly 135,000 hotel rooms throughout the United States. Major accomplishments included more than doubling the size of the chain, adding the Ramada Limited and Ramada Plaza Hotel tiers, and launching the bold "Ramada's In/Holiday's Out" advertising campaign. As part of his plan to solidly position the Ramada chain in the upper-mid-tier segment, Belmonte also masterminded the revolutionary customer service initiative, Personal Best Hospitality, which offered tuition reimbursement and a variety of other incentives to foster a career path in the hotel industry.
Belmonte’s commitment to give back to the industry where he made his career is also reflected by the positions he held: Chairman of the American Hotel Foundation (AHF) and Vice Chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF). Indeed, his dedication to tomorrow’s hospitality leaders is underscored by his work at the AH&LEF where, as past Chairman of its Fund Development Committee, Belmonte led the “Annual Hospitality Fund” for two years raising record amounts of funds to support the development of lodging operations programs in high schools, resources for research projects and scholarship programs. Most recently, Belmonte chaired the AHF's ambitious "New Century Fund Campaign" in which a record $9.2 million was raised.
As former Chairman of the Honorary Board with Childreach (formerly Foster Parents Plan) and recipient of its prestigious Humanitas Award, Belmonte’s passion for helping others has left a well-traveled path dotted with monuments of goodwill. In Africa, Belmonte spearheaded the construction of two medical facilities, a Food and Science Laboratory, a Youth Center in Cairo, and The New Belmonte Library for the Hotel and Tourism Institute in Zambia, Africa complete with an internet connection to encourage the training of aspiring hotel industry leaders. In recognition of his unwavering dedication, the Hotel & Catering International Management Association (H.C.I.M.A.) named Belmonte an Honorary Fellow for his support of the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Trust in Lusaka, Zambia.
Belmonte was also at the forefront of a $100,000 donation to rebuild a school in the Dominican Republic destroyed by a hurricane. While there, Belmonte personally funded the construction of a massive playground and filmed fundraising commercials for Childreach. Acting as both Childreach sponsor and president of the Ramada hotel chain in the TV commercials, over $1.2 million in new sponsorships for the organization was raised in less than a year. Belmonte continued as Childreach’s national television spokesperson until 2003. Further underscoring Belmonte's propensity to give, the American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat-al-Salam, a community of Jews and Arabs coexisting in peace in Israel, presented Belmonte with its first ever Ambassador of Peace Humanitarian Award for his charitable endeavors in the area.
For a combination of historic charitable and business accomplishments, Belmonte was also the recipient of the prestigious 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by Roosevelt University in Chicago. Belmonte recently donated funds to the AH&LEF, which was used to establish the “Steven J. Belmonte Scholarship Fund for Roosevelt University in Chicago.”
Prior to his position at Ramada, Belmonte was the President and CEO of Equity Hotel Corporation, a hotel management firm that he co-founded in 1984 and nurtured to become one of the top ten management companies in the industry. A variety of hotel brands made up the 35 property Equity portfolio, which, in addition to his diverse experiences as a franchisee and general manager, equipped Belmonte with a broad range of expertise in the franchised hotel industry.
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Nightclub Operations
Stephen C. Barth, J.D., CHE Expand/Collapse
President 
HospitalityLawyer.com
P.O. Box 22888
Houston, Texas 77227
(713) 963-8800 – Phone
(713) 627-9934 – Fax
Email: SBarth@HospitalityLawyer.com
Web Address: www.HospitalityLawyer.com
Stephen Barth, author of Hospitality Law and coauthor of Restaurant Law Basics, is an attorney and the founder of HospitalityLawyer.com. As a professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, he teaches courses in hospitality law and leadership. Prior to joining the faculty at the Conrad N. Hilton College, Stephen was an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University. He has over twenty years of experience in hospitality operations, including line positions, management, and ownership.
He is a member of a select group of instructors worldwide designated by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association to teach its Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) program.
Stephen is the legal editor for Lodging Hospitality magazine. His articles on legal issues in the hospitality industry also appear regularly in Club Management magazine and Midwest Foodservice News. He speaks regularly on many issues for the National Restaurant Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Club Managers Association, the National Association of Catering Executives, the Texas Hotel and Motel Association, the Texas Restaurant Association, and many other hospitality associations and hospitality management companies, including Four Seasons, Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, and Choice Hotels
Stephen earned his Law degree, Master of Arts in communications and a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in economics from Texas Tech University. He is an honorary member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. In 1995 he was recognized by the City of Houston for his accomplishments as a faculty member at the University of Houston, and in 1996 he received the Dean’s award for Teaching Excellence at the Conrad N. Hilton College, University of Houston. In 1998 Stephen was awarded the University Teaching Excellence Award, the highest recognition of teaching bestowed by the University of Houston. In 2000 he received the University of Houston’s Distance Education Award
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Real Estate
Steven L. Belmonte , Expand/Collapse
President & CEO 
Hospitality Solutions, LLC
3 Golden Corner Way
Randolph, NJ 07869
(973) 598-0839 – Phone
(973) 927-4082 – Fax
Email: StevenBelmonte@aol.com
Web Address: www.stevenbelmonte.com
Since becoming the youngest general manager in the history of Holiday Inn at the age of 18 and later buying the hotel he started at, to holding the title of longest standing President of a national franchised hotel chain while at the helm of the Ramada hotel chain, Steven J. Belmonte brings new meaning to the phrase “from the mailroom to the Boardroom.”
In 2002, Belmonte returned to his entrepreneurial roots and launched Hospitality Solutions, LLC, a full-service, nationwide consultation firm specializing in lodging industry issues at the hotel and corporate level. Drawing on over 35 years of experience and key contacts both in and outside of the industry, Hospitality Solutions was specifically designed to offer fundamental services in an era of corporate mergers and right-sizing. Services include: expert witness and mediation services, litigation support, license agreement formulation or termination negotiation assistance, feasibility studies, market studies, ownership & development assistance, and motivational speaking. Belmonte is a member of the Board of Directors of Arlington Hospitality (NASDAQ/NM: HOST), serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee and is a former Member of Arlington’s Audit Committee Ad Hock/Strategic Development. In addition to his positions with Arlington Hospitality, Mr. Belmonte currently serves on the Board of Industry Relationships for the Asian American Hotel Owner’s Association, is an Adjunct Faculty Member of the Round Table Group and is a member of the Franchise Panel for the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution.
Prior to Hospitality Solutions, for nearly 11 years Belmonte was President and CEO of the Ramada hotel chain, which had over 1,000 hotels and nearly 135,000 hotel rooms throughout the United States. Major accomplishments included more than doubling the size of the chain, adding the Ramada Limited and Ramada Plaza Hotel tiers, and launching the bold "Ramada's In/Holiday's Out" advertising campaign. As part of his plan to solidly position the Ramada chain in the upper-mid-tier segment, Belmonte also masterminded the revolutionary customer service initiative, Personal Best Hospitality, which offered tuition reimbursement and a variety of other incentives to foster a career path in the hotel industry.
Belmonte’s commitment to give back to the industry where he made his career is also reflected by the positions he held: Chairman of the American Hotel Foundation (AHF) and Vice Chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF). Indeed, his dedication to tomorrow’s hospitality leaders is underscored by his work at the AH&LEF where, as past Chairman of its Fund Development Committee, Belmonte led the “Annual Hospitality Fund” for two years raising record amounts of funds to support the development of lodging operations programs in high schools, resources for research projects and scholarship programs. Most recently, Belmonte chaired the AHF's ambitious "New Century Fund Campaign" in which a record $9.2 million was raised.
As former Chairman of the Honorary Board with Childreach (formerly Foster Parents Plan) and recipient of its prestigious Humanitas Award, Belmonte’s passion for helping others has left a well-traveled path dotted with monuments of goodwill. In Africa, Belmonte spearheaded the construction of two medical facilities, a Food and Science Laboratory, a Youth Center in Cairo, and The New Belmonte Library for the Hotel and Tourism Institute in Zambia, Africa complete with an internet connection to encourage the training of aspiring hotel industry leaders. In recognition of his unwavering dedication, the Hotel & Catering International Management Association (H.C.I.M.A.) named Belmonte an Honorary Fellow for his support of the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Trust in Lusaka, Zambia.
Belmonte was also at the forefront of a $100,000 donation to rebuild a school in the Dominican Republic destroyed by a hurricane. While there, Belmonte personally funded the construction of a massive playground and filmed fundraising commercials for Childreach. Acting as both Childreach sponsor and president of the Ramada hotel chain in the TV commercials, over $1.2 million in new sponsorships for the organization was raised in less than a year. Belmonte continued as Childreach’s national television spokesperson until 2003. Further underscoring Belmonte's propensity to give, the American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat-al-Salam, a community of Jews and Arabs coexisting in peace in Israel, presented Belmonte with its first ever Ambassador of Peace Humanitarian Award for his charitable endeavors in the area.
For a combination of historic charitable and business accomplishments, Belmonte was also the recipient of the prestigious 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by Roosevelt University in Chicago. Belmonte recently donated funds to the AH&LEF, which was used to establish the “Steven J. Belmonte Scholarship Fund for Roosevelt University in Chicago.”
Prior to his position at Ramada, Belmonte was the President and CEO of Equity Hotel Corporation, a hotel management firm that he co-founded in 1984 and nurtured to become one of the top ten management companies in the industry. A variety of hotel brands made up the 35 property Equity portfolio, which, in addition to his diverse experiences as a franchisee and general manager, equipped Belmonte with a broad range of expertise in the franchised hotel industry.
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Safety
Thomas G. Davis, CHA, CLSD, Expand/Collapse
President
Security Litigation Group, Inc.
6099 Riverside Drive, Suite 102
Dublin, Ohio 43017
(614) 793-1614 – Phone
(614) 793-1965 – Fax
Email: ThomDavis@SecurityLitigation.com
Web Address: www.securitylitigation.com
Thomas G. Davis, President and Founder of Security Litigation Group, Inc., provides case evaluation services and expert testimony in premises security cases throughout the United States and the Caribbean. Mr. Davis has provided expert testimony since 1990 and has been involved in hotel security and loss prevention management since 1975. He has been qualified as an expert witness in both state and federal courts.
His areas of expertise include adequate and inadequate security; hotels; motels; apartments; office buildings; hospitals; banks; casinos; shopping centers; strip malls; universities and colleges; transportation companies; parking lots and parking garages; retail establishments; and violent crimes including homicide and sexual assault.
Mr. Davis is also President of Hospitality Risk Controls, a nationwide company established in 1990 that provides safety and security consulting to the hospitality industry. Mr. Davis has conducted numerous security seminars for various corporate, state, and national organizations and has reviewed the security and safety programs for hundreds of lodging properties in North America, evaluating security systems, procedures, and methods of dealing with security hazards, OSHA compliance, and safety risks.
Mr. Davis is the security consultant to the American Hotel and Motel Association, the trade association that represents the lodging industry in the United States. As a long-standing member of the AH&MA, he has participated in the preparation of safety and security materials for the Educational Institute of the AH&MA, an affiliate organization that provides training and educational materials for the lodging industry. Mr. Davis has been active with the AH&MA since the mid-1980s and has been a member and past chairman of its security committee. Mr. Davis is also a member of the Hospitality and Themed Entertainment Security Committee of the American Society for Industrial Security.
The Educational Institute has certified Mr. Davis as a Hotel Administrator and Lodging Security Director. The Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) designation is the foremost symbol of professional achievement for lodging executives and the Certified Lodging Security Director (CLSD) designation applies to lodging security directors and executives.
In the early 1980s, as President of Hotel Security Services, Inc., Mr. Davis provided security officer services and security consulting to hotels, apartments, condominiums, and office buildings in Columbus, Ohio. He was Corporate Director of Loss Prevention for Boykin Management Company, a hotel management company that operates Marriott, Hilton, Quality Inns, and Radisson Hotels. As corporate director for 10 years, Mr. Davis designed, implemented, and managed its Loss Prevention program.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Davis was a member of the Columbus, Ohio Police Department for 10 years. The bulk of his police career was spent in the Homicide Division. He also worked in the Vice, Burglary, Robbery, Sexual Assault, and Narcotics squads. Mr. Davis retired from the department in 1982.
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Patricia Meyer, Expand/Collapse
President 
Meyer Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 44930
Washington, D.C. 20026-4930
(202) 462-2792 – Phone
(202) 462-2792 – Fax
Email: PatMeyer@cais.com
Web Address: www.MeyerAssoc.net
Patricia Meyer, MSW, LICSW, has developed workplace
violence prevention strategies for restaurants, medical facilities, private sector businesses and government agencies. She has worked with management and unions to develop safer workplaces. She is a consultant with the National Restaurant Association's Health and Safety Regulatory Affairs Department. She has also been a contributor to national trade publications on the topic of workplace violence prevention and is the author of the Workplace Violence Prevention chapter in the American Medical Association's Health and Safety Handbook published in the fall of 2000.
Pat, who is trained in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, has a Master's Degree in Social Work and is a licensed clinical therapist. Her experience includes:
- Presenting grief counseling and anger management seminars for employees following such incidents as an employee's murder, an employee's suicide and a weapon brought to the worksite to threaten colleagues;
- Providing stress management support for the recovery/rescue workers after the Oklahoma City Bombing incident;
- Developing conflict resolution training seminars for hospitality, computer and service industry companies;
- Consulting with businesses around the country that are developing their own violence prevention programs;
- Advisory Board Member for HospitalityLawyer.com, an online resource providing legal, safety and security information for the hospitality industry.
The team at Meyer Associates, Inc. under Pat's leadership brings more than 50 years of collective experience in crisis intervention to the critical problem of workplace violence prevention providing industry with a definitive means of coping with this problem. |
Russell J. KendziorExpand/Collapse
President 
Tractionplus.com
P.O. Box 92628
Southlake, TX 76092
(817) 749-1705 – Phone
Email: russk@tractionplus.com
Web Address: www.Tractionplus.com
Russell J. Kendzior is president and CEO of Traction Plus, Inc. and founder of the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI). Internationally recognized as the leading expert in slip-and-fall accident prevention, Mr. Kendzior is a nationally acclaimed lecturer, author and legal consultant.
Author of the best selling book entitled “Slip-and-Fall Prevention Made Easy,” Mr. Kendzior has written a wide range of articles and newsletters for various trade publications and safety journals. Mr. Kendzior has appeared on Inside Edition, ABC News Good Morning America and has been the subject of a PBS documentary on floor safety.
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Stephen C. Barth, J.D., CHE Expand/Collapse
President 
HospitalityLawyer.com
P.O. Box 22888
Houston, Texas 77227
(713) 963-8800 – Phone
(713) 627-9934 – Fax
Email: SBarth@HospitalityLawyer.com
Web Address: www.HospitalityLawyer.com
Stephen Barth, author of Hospitality Law and coauthor of Restaurant Law Basics, is an attorney and the founder of HospitalityLawyer.com. As a professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, he teaches courses in hospitality law and leadership. Prior to joining the faculty at the Conrad N. Hilton College, Stephen was an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University. He has over twenty years of experience in hospitality operations, including line positions, management, and ownership.
He is a member of a select group of instructors worldwide designated by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association to teach its Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) program.
Stephen is the legal editor for Lodging Hospitality magazine. His articles on legal issues in the hospitality industry also appear regularly in Club Management magazine and Midwest Foodservice News. He speaks regularly on many issues for the National Restaurant Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Club Managers Association, the National Association of Catering Executives, the Texas Hotel and Motel Association, the Texas Restaurant Association, and many other hospitality associations and hospitality management companies, including Four Seasons, Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, and Choice Hotels
Stephen earned his Law degree, Master of Arts in communications and a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in economics from Texas Tech University. He is an honorary member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. In 1995 he was recognized by the City of Houston for his accompli | |