Madison is an Asheville native who began his career in the hospitality industry while working summers during high school.  He started as a Bellman at the (then) Great Smokies Hilton in Asheville, and was promoted to Front Desk Supervisor shortly thereafter.

Following graduation, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1975 through 1977, studying Radio, Television, Motion Pictures and Advertising.  Three days before he was to start his senior year, Madison left school, got a Small Business Administration loan and co-founded The Alpha Group, an advertising agency in Asheville.  He was President of The Alpha Group from 1978 � 1999.

In 1979, The Alpha Group was hired by the Grove Park Inn to handle its local Food & Beverage advertising.  After five years of successful and expanding advertising efforts on behalf of the hotel, Madison was retained on a management contract to be the hotel�s full-time Director of Marketing, a status and position he maintained until September 1999, when he was named General Manager.  In his fifteen years as Director of Marketing, The Alpha Group won more than 100 awards for creative excellence on Grove Park Inn advertising projects.

Madison�s tenure as Director of Marketing coincided with the expansion of the Grove Park Inn from a 150-room seasonal hotel to a 510-room resort and conference facility.  In helping to guide and giving direction to that transition, Madison was responsible for the creation of many of the special events and internal programs that made The Grove Park Inn Resort a financial success.  He initiated A Grove Park Inn Christmas and the Gingerbread House Competition, winter Adventure Weekends and Sunset Mountain Spring; brought the Tour DuPont to Asheville in 1994 and 1995;  �invented� Major Bear, the hotel�s mascot; planned and executed the Grand Millennium Celebration and commissioned The Grove Park Inn Prelude and Overture to the Third Millennium. 

Madison added the hotel�s Media Relations Department, its �Power Up� employee empowerment program, Guest Satisfaction Survey system and Gift Certificate program.  Along the way, he managed the hotel�s Training and Sales Departments.  He dramatically expanded and enhanced the role of the hotel Floral Department to include visual and decorative arts.  The department now decorates the hotel for Grove Park Inn special events, holidays and Adventure Weekends, and is available to assist Catering and Convention Services in the preparation and execution of themed parties. 

He is currently executing the vision of hotel owner Elaine D. Sammons for the Resort in the 21st Century.  Madison launched the current, $36.5 million Property Improvement program and its centerpiece, a $27 million, 40,000 square-foot Spa.  When completed in 2000, the Spa will be the finest in North America, and the resort will become The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa. 

Madison is a member of the North Carolina Hotel & Motel Association, the North Carolina Travel & Tourism Coalition, and the North Carolina Golf Alliance, which he helped found.  He coordinated the resort�s hosting of the North Carolina Governor�s Conference on Travel & Tourism in 1997; it will return to the resort in 2001.

Craig is married.  He and his wife Lee have a daughter, Chelsea.