Lampi and Hewes Elected to Top Posts at Hospitality Minnesota / June 1998

Hotel Online Press Releases

Lampi and Hewes Elected to Top Posts at Hospitality Minnesota --- ST. PAUL, Minn. June 11, 1988 - -Steve Lampi, president and CEO of Bridgeman's Restaurants, Inc., and Arnold J. Hewes, CAE, executive vice president of Minnesota's Restaurant, Hotel and Resort Associations, have been elected to one year terms as chairman and president, respectively, of Hospitality Minnesota, the umbrella organization for the Minnesota Restaurant Association, Minnesota Hotel & Lodging Association and Minnesota Resort Association.

As chairman of the Hospitality Minnesota Board, Lampi will lead the development of a members' web site, oversee a major computer upgrade and continue the process of office relocation recently begun by the organization. Lampi began his career with Bridgeman's as a dishwasher in 1969. By age 19, he was managing a Bridgeman's Restaurant and in 1979, he became district manager, supervising units in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In 1988 Lampi was named vice president. He was promoted to his current position as president and CEO of Bridgeman's in 1989. Lampi served as president of the Minnesota Restaurant Association in 1995, and he has served on several association committees. He currently chairs the Hospitality Minnesota Web Site Task Force.

Steve Lampi Chairman of the Board

Arnold J. Hewes, CAE President and CEO

-- Hewes, president and CEO of Hospitality Minnesota, is a certified association executive (CAE), and he has provided the solid leadership and long-term vision that has guided the organization's growth for the past 19 years. Hewes manages a staff of 18 in departments ranging from government affairs to communications to education. He has dramatically increased the visibility and growth of Hospitality Minnesota, and during the past year he coordinated an effort to develop a new identity and logos for Hospitality Minnesota and its three associations. This new identity and logos recently won an Award of Excellence from the Minnesota Society of Association Executives.

On the national level, Hewes currently serves as a trustee for the American Hotel & Motel Association's
Educational Institute. He is the only state executive to have served as president of both the International Society of Hotel Association Executives (IS HAE) and the International Society of Restaurant Association Executives
(ISHAE).

**Other Hospitality Minnesota officers elected to one-year terms include:**
Vice President - Ed Christie, Forepaugh's Restaurant, St. Paul
Vice President - Lee Zaczkowski, Timberlane Lodge, Park Rapids
Treasurer - David Brott, CHA, Country Inn & Suites by Carlson, Bloomington
Corporate Secretary - Judy Hewes, General Manager, Hospitality Minnesota, St. Paul

Hospitality Minnesota is one of Minnesota's largest business trade organizations and is the leading hospitality organization in the state. Minnesota is one of the only states in the nation where all segments of the hospitality industry - restaurants, hotels, motels, bed & breakfasts, resorts and campgrounds and the companies that supply them - work together under a single umbrella.

Hospitality Minnesota represents nearly 4,000 hospitality businesses across Minnesota. These 4,000 businesses are spread out among Hospitality Minnesota's three associations, which now also include the Minnesota Bed & Breakfast Guild and the Minnesota Alliance of Campground Operators. Currently, the Minnesota Resort Association, with the merger of campgrounds, has 1,100 members; the Hotel & Lodging Association has a membership of more than 700; and the Restaurant Association represents nearly 1,800 members. These three associations also have over 400 allied supplier members.

The hospitality industry is the second largest employer in Minnesota with more than 175,000 employees earning more than $3.7 billion annually in wages and salaries. The industry as a whole produces annual sales of more than $9.1 billion, generating sales tax revenues exceeding $1.1 billion.

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Contact: David Siegel, Communications Director Julie Benson, Communications Specialist (612) 222-7401