May June 2018

www.calodging.com May/June 2018 5 What Do We Do? Why Do We Do It? By Elliot Katz, “Mr. Coffee” Consultant, Peerless Coffee & Tea EVERY YEAR, the directors of the CH&LA Education Foundation are given prescreened and well qualified candidates to interview for an opportunity to be selected for a cash scholarship to assist in furthering their hospitality education. After we interview, meet as a group, and award the scholarships we seldom have a chance to again meet or follow the careers of the recipients. I had the honor of interviewing Casey Teague by telephone in 2015 and after the interview I recommended Casey for a scholarship which the CH&LA Educational Foundation granted. Casey had an interesting resume—food server, busser, customer service representative, US Air Force Active Duty and Reserves for ten years, and then a unique career move—a manager of a property simulation at a W Hotel to a Rooms Division Externship at a St. Regis Hotel. He received his B.S. in Hospitality and Tourism Management from San Diego State in 2015 and then the “interview” and the scholarship. Jump forward a year to 2016. Casey became the Assistant Front Desk Manager at the world famous Palace Hotel San Francisco. He and I met in the iconic Garden Court. He was every bit as enthusiastic and passionate about the industry as he was when I first interviewed him. He has the responsibilities for managing 80 employees, three managers, and interacting with three labor unions. Working nights as the MOD, understanding the high employee turnover rate in the SF Bay Area, understanding industry survival, and never saying “it’s not my job,” and seeking experience and knowledge, as he explains, are the path to a viable and rewarding career in the hospitality industry. It is rewarding to see that the scholarships that the CH&LA Education Foundation awards allow our recipients to achieve success. After interviewing Casey in 2016, the Foundation and I were curious as to his status and growth within the industry. I met Casey over a cup of coffee early one morning this March, 2018. He has left the Palace Hotel to pursue a new growth opportunity at the Hotel Yotel on Market Street in San Francisco. As he puts it, he is the “Mission Control” person on the opening team as well as the Director of Rooms for this unique 203 room hotel. The Yotel San Francisco is part of the revitalization of Market Street. Before leaving the Palace Hotel he became the “Task Force MOD” for the Restaurant and Banquet Areas of the hotel which gave him additional experience in the hospitality industry. My colleagues on the CH&LA Education Foundation Board of Directors have similar success stories. Each of them interviews one or two student applicants a year and spends many unpaid hours at meetings and interviewing as their way of “giving back” to the industry. That’s what we do and why we do it.  Casey Teague CH&LA Educational Foundation Scholarship Recipient The CH&LA Education Foundation scholarship program is supported through donors and the annual Grow Hospitality Auction, to be held online from September 24–October 1, 2018. For more information, please contact CH&LA’s Education Director, Susan Ragatz, 916-554-2678, susan@calodging.com .