by Dan Perkins

Source: NAACP Release

The National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers, Inc. (NABHOOD) is basking in the success of its tenth annual summit and trade show, which was held in July, in Atlanta, Georgia.  The 2006 conference drew a record number of attendees, 373, who came to network, learn and assess the opportunities for development, ownership and management within the lodging industry.

The conference featured a wide spectrum of speakers and panelists, including Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who welcomed the group; lodging company executives, such as Cendant Corp. Hotel Division President/CEO Steve Rudnitsky; and prominent African-Americans in the hotel industry, such as NABHOOD vice chairman Tom Baltimore Jr., president/RLJ Development, LLC.  Baltimore gave a luncheon presentation on his company's recent activities, including the $1.7 billion portfolio buy of 100 White Lodging hotels.

NABHOOD Chairman Michael Roberts, who also is chairman/CEO of The Roberts Companies, which includes the Roberts Hotels Group, stressed that the association is specifically set up to help black capitalists achieve generational wealth and to allow for their employees to achieve sustainable growth. 

Andy Ingraham, NABHOOD's president/CEO, is pleased that the association marking a decade of solid progress as an organization by supporting the 231 African-American owned hotels that now exist in the U.S.  The association's stated goal is to have 500 such properties open and operating by 2010.

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