A swing and a hit!

Hello All,

We are a little over three weeks until our Golf Outing! This is where we will learn new and innovative ways to find the woods, lose a ball, creatively curse and maybe swat a mosquito or two. The best part though, is that we will be raising money to help fund the scholarships that are essential to many of the students entering our industry. We ask for you to take some time to play, sponsor or donate a silent auction item, to help us in this effort. It’s a fun day in a beautiful setting, with great food, engaging people, and offers an opportunity to meet those in our industry. We will be at Deerfield Golf Club, July 20th, with a 7am registration time.

I look forward to seeing you there!

 

Paul Rada, Chairman

Delaware Hotel & Lodging Association

Event Schedule

7:00am to 8:00am – Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:00am – Shotgun Start

12:30pm – 2:30pm – Buffet Lunch, Silent Auction and Awards Presentation

  • Green Fees and Cart Fee at Delaware’s Top Ranked Public Golf Course
  • Continental Breakfast
  • On Course Beverages
  • Lunch Buffet
  • On Course Contests
  • Prizes
  • BEST OF ALL….. Fun with your colleagues!!

Find out more or secure your foursome by calling Bill Sullivan at (302) 444-9256

Support the Delaware Hotel & Lodging Association

            Give a contribution of $ ___________ (does not include golf)

            Purchase ____________ tee signs for $150 each

Please have my tee sign read as follows: ___________________________________________________________________

 

Become An Honored Sponsor

 

Platinum Sponsorship – $5000

Includes a foursome, tee sign, a Driving Range or Putting Green sign, a Bag Drop sign and your name on all the golf carts.

 

Gold Sponsorship – $2000

Includes a foursome, a tee sign and a Driving Range or Putting Green sign

 

Silver Sponsorship

Includes a foursome and tee sign

 

Checks may be mailed to

DHLA c/o Sullivan

400 David Hollowell Drive

Newark, DE  19716

Phone – 302-444-9256    Fax – 302-737-0990 or  billsullivan.dhla@yahoo.com

Starting the year with a bang!

Well, well, well, this year looks to be very, very active in so many ways. We have had the rockiest start of the stock market, the fourth most powerful winter storm, the Senate moving to increase the minimum wage with SB39 and DuPont becoming a big question mark. While we can’t do much about the weather and likely the stock market will rebound eventually without our individual help, we do have an opportunity to have our voices heard with regard to the Minimum Wage Bill that is going to the House,

I attended the Senate Committee hearing and spoke on our behalf, along with our Lobbyist Joe Fitzgerald and others from the restaurant and agricultural industries. The deck was stacked against us more so in the Senate, than perhaps in the House, but I am asking all our members to consider taking a bit of time to read this and communicate with as many House members as you can.

I understand the arguments of those that wish to help those with families earn a wage that will support them. I won’t get into statistics, as they can be filtered and twisted for either side. We heard very different numbers from each side, during the Committee hearing. What I do wish to get across, from our industry, is that our particular industry will be more largely affected, due to the percentage of our staff that would get a raise. Above that, those individuals who are just above that range, will also be looking to maintain the differential that they currently have above minimum wage.

Additionally, a significant percentage of those affected, are not supporting a family, yet will gain the same benefit. This creates a much broader brush stroke than I believe was really intended. There are also a couple of side effects that may occur. These include potential decreases in subsidies such as healthcare, food stamps and other programs that a higher wage may cause disqualification. Lastly, this Bill is to be implemented over a four year period. As I said at the beginning, the stock market and thus the economy, are not on the sturdiest of footing. To put together legislation that assumes the next four years will be productive enough for businesses to absorb this increased expense (nearly 25% increase for that portion of our labor), is, I believe, short sighted. There has to be a better way than SB39 and I ask for your help to let the House members see the shortcomings of this Bill. It actually could lead to automated answers, or layoffs, which would not serve the purpose that was intended.

Stars of the Industry Awards Gala

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the bid for the upcoming Stars of the Industry Awards Gala. We will be having our event at the Clarion Hotel – The Belle on February 19th, 2016. We will be getting out the invitations and award nominations shortly, but please save the date on your calendars. I look forward to getting together with everyone and celebrating the talents and positive traits of the best people in our industry.

While we wish/expect that all our team members exhibit all the skills, empathy and caring to epitomize the word hospitality, there are some that rise above the others. I hope that you will take the time and thought, to nominate members of your staff, who help to make not only your property shine, but our state as well. Any guest coming into Delaware, that feels welcomed and treated with courtesy and a smile, will return, with friends. It is our responsibility, and hopefully, our pleasure, to create that kind of memory.

We will change a couple of things this year with regard to categories and I look forward to every property participating. Please feel free to contact me, if you should have any questions. My cell phone is 610-563-7430.

End of the Year Fast and Furious

I wanted to send out a Happy Holidays to all, before the flurry of activity swarms around us and all of a sudden we are recuperating from New Year’s Eve. I want to thank those who have helped make my first year as Chairman much easier than I had first feared. While too many to list, I do want to send a special thank you to Rebecca Streets-Montagna, Bill Sullivan, Doree Kuhn and Vince DiFonzo for going above and beyond in improving our organization and the adding of our mixers this year.

I look forward to our Stars of the Industry Awards Gala, coming up soon at the end of January or beginning of February (we will announce the date next week) and to more engagement and improvements in the coming year. For anyone I’ve not yet met, I would love to make some time to visit, please feel free to contact me via our email, DHLA@mail.com to set up a day to meet. Our Association will have some interesting Events coming up next year and we should have everything on our calendar by the end of the year. I will be blogging again soon, but want to wish everyone a warm and wonderful Holiday Season.

Let’s get swingin’!

Hello All!

We have gone through quite a few changes so far this year and are planning more to come. We have made a change in our lobbying representation and have contracted with Joe Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Consulting, Inc. Joe works with the New Castle County Chamber as well as the Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and we felt that his experience and other clients align well with our industry and small business focus. We have also changed our administrator to Rebecca Streets-Montagna. Rebecca is now working on updating our website, putting together an updated database for emails, contact names and phone numbers, so if you get a phone call asking for information, we are only trying to make sure that we can get information out to you properly.

We are close to our golf outing, July 15th at Deerfield Golf Club. We do still have room for some more golfers, sponsorship and can always use some silent auction items. Please feel free to contact myself at 610-563-7430 or Bill Sullivan at 302-444-9256, if you would like to whack a ball or two, sponsor a tee sign, or just come and have lunch and perhaps get a great deal at our silent auction! Please remember that the funds raised during this outing are what fund the scholarships during the year. It helps to make our future better.

We are also adding mixers to our list of Events. We had a mixer at the Courtyard by Marriott in Newark by the University (many thanks to Bill for hosting!), but our turnout was lower than hoped, partly due to the nasty storm that cut electric to many of us that evening. and partly due to not having a fully updated contact list. We will be having additional mixers in Kent and Sussex counties in September and October and will provide those dates once firmed up with the hosting properties. We feel that this will be a great way for our allied members to meet the hotel members in a relaxed atmosphere. We are also adding one , if not more, educational sessions to help educate your staff. Any topics that you would like us to consider, please feel free to call me on my cell number above.

I want to thank everyone for helping me through the first few months of my term, as we waded through the potential minimum wage increase and other issues that arose in the last legislative session and I look forward to extending additional value to our association. As with string, when twisted together, we become a strong rope that can accomplish much together. I look forward to having the chance to meet each of you and to make sure that we are representing your needs.

See you on the golf course!

Paul Rada,Chairman