New Vice President of Operations and Director of Information Technology joins team as Hotel Management Company Continues Strategic growth.
CHICAGO – Prominence Hospitality Group, an emergent real estate investment, development, and hotel management company based in Chicago, welcomes two new key members to its corporate leadership team. Steve Natale joins as the vice president of operations and Kelly Willis as the new director of information technology. As Prominence continues to expand its management and ownership portfolios in the year ahead, Natale and Willis bring vast hospitality experience and value to the corporate team.
“We are forecasting strong growth and strategic acquisitions in the months ahead,” shares Dhaval Brahmbhatt, principal, Prominence Hospitality Group. “We carefully selected both Steve and Kelly based on their immense experience within their respective fields and their drive to play an integral role in the expansion of Prominence.”
Vice President of Operations – Steve Natale
With more than two decades of hospitality experience, Steve Natale comes to Prominence after many years on the IHG operations side. During his time with IHG in Philadelphia, Natale played a key part in bringing the first 50 Staybridge Suites hotels to the market. Furthering his career by expanding his focus within franchise management to include the Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Choice and Wyndham brands, Natale also branched out beyond select service to include the full-service sector. Under Natale’s leadership, the team he assembled helped to create award-winning hotels in the Mid-Atlantic region for IHG, Hilton and Choice hotels.
With an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Natale is a graduate of the IHG Owners Association’s Leadership Institute held at Goizueta Business School-Emory University and has served for the IHG Owners Association Working Committees for over seven years, as a committee member, Vice Chair and Chair.
Director of IT – Kelly Willis
Following his position as an IT Solutions Analyst for a worldwide merchandising company, Willis joined the Prominence team to head up the growing corporate IT department. Prior to coming onboard, Willis spent more than two decades in hospitality accounting and IT. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from Eastern Illinois University. He brings his information technology skills, business acumen, and deep understanding of multiple facets of hotel operations to Prominence in his new role. As director of information technology, Willis is developing and streamlining the IT processes across the Prominence portfolio.
Emerging as an industry leader, Prominence Hospitality Group launched in 2018 and is an innovative real estate investment, development and hotel management company, creating remarkable results for partners throughout the United States. With 15 properties in the current portfolio – and significantly growing – the Prominence team is personally-vested in many of the developments in their portfolio, providing a unique perspective to management – the perfect mix of an opportunistic, owner’s perspective alongside nimble efficiency. Prominence presents a leadership bench stacked with progressive hotel, restaurant, development and construction experts, each bringing a unique value set of experience to holistically identify strong opportunities and align ideal partners of all sizes and experiences with fitting projects.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
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