JQH holds hiring event for Springfield hotels

Last edited 11:35 a.m., Aug. 8, 2016

Amid bankruptcy proceedings, John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts is hiring.

The Springfield company partnered Friday with the Missouri Job Center and Ozark Region Workforce Development Board for a hiring event outside the downtown University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center, according to a news release.

Megan Short, city of Springfield communications coordinator, said via email JQH Hotels sought 33 employees ranging from housekeeping to management.

JQH Hotels spokeswoman Sheri Smith said the company interviewed for five Queen City properties it owns or manages:
    •    University Plaza;
    •    Courtyard by Marriott Springfield Airport;
    •    Residence Inn by Marriott Springfield;
    •    Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites downtown; and
    •    Springfield Expo Center.

The company’s hiring website lists 273 hospitality jobs, 17 engineering jobs and 14 sales positions in 16 states.

“JQH employs more than 4,000 service-oriented team members nationwide, including approximately 350 employees that are at Springfield-based locations or working off-site/regionally for the company’s Springfield headquarters," company officials said in a statement provided by Smith.

Also on Friday, a former guest with a lawsuit against JQH Hotels filed a motion asking the court allow her to recover damages related to a 2012 accident. Sybille Winter seeks a stay related to JQH’s bankruptcy filing to recover insurance policy proceeds when she fell in the shower of a JQH-managed hotel, according to a court filing.

The company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late June.