Tampa, FL (March 23, 2020) – In the 94 years that McKibbon Hospitality has been in business, we have never endured more challenging times. COVID-19’s impact on our business, our industry, our communities and the entire world, have been rapid and nothing short of devastating. For that reason, we’ve been forced to make extremely difficult decisions, including completely suspending operations at several hotels and laying off the majority of our highly valued associates.

As a result of recent layoffs, Tampa-based hotel management company, McKibbon Hospitality, has established an associate assistance fund in response to the profound impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to the hospitality industry. Aimed at assisting its former employees with groceries and other necessities, the fund will provide payments of $200 every two weeks for all of their recently laid-off employees for 90 days beginning on April 3.

“Our associates are like family and are truly the heart of our business, which has made this unfortunate situation so difficult,” said President Randy Hassen. “We are committed to supporting them through these challenging times in any way that we can, just like they’ve supported us over the years. Once the outbreak is contained, we look forward to restoring our operations and bringing as many employees back to work as possible.”

In addition to the associate assistance fund, McKibbon Hospitality has partnered with Marketplace Chaplains for the past 17 years to ensure that all hotel guests, associates and their families have 24/7 access to a chaplain uniquely trained to support their emotional needs during challenging times. The chaplain service will also be extended to those who have been let go due to this worldwide pandemic.