John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts has filled two management positions at University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center left vacant by moves to competitor O'Reilly Hospitality Management. The company also hired another employee for a newly created role at the hotel and convention center, 333 S. John Q. Hammons Parkway, according to University Plaza General Manager Robert Henley.
JQH Hotels hired Kevin Klein as assistant general manager, a position left vacant by Brian Inman, who was
hired as general manager of O'Reilly Hospitality Management's Doubletree Hotel in December.
Klein has 25 years experience as a hospitality executive, according to a March 27 JQH Hotels news release. He was general manager of the Ramada Oasis Hotel and Convention Center when it gained the Ramada franchise license in early 2009, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
Anjanette Labellarte has filled the position of association sales manager, which was held by Dee Palmer before her February move to Doubletree as sales manager.
According to the release, Labellarte, who will be responsible for sales generation and client interaction, has made a return to University Plaza, where she was corporate sales manager in 2004. She most recently served as coordinator of membership sales and services for the Nixa Area Chamber of Commerce, and she was selected as a member of SBJ's
2006 class of 40 Under 40.
JQH Hotels also hired Shelby Williams as University Plaza's third catering manager, a newly created position, according to Henley, who noted Williams will report to Sue Martin, the hotel and convention center's director of catering.
Williams, who is charged with generating top-line catering revenue through local contacts, comes to University Plaza from 425 Downtown Events and Catering, where he was named operations manager in late 2011. Williams also formerly held the role of director of sales and marketing for Ramada Oasis, and he was named one of SBJ's 40 Under 40 in 2005.
Another catering manager for University Plaza, Joe Wadkins, who had worked at the hotel and convention center for 27 years, became Doubletree’s director of catering in December. Henley said Jenny Myler succeeded Wadkins at University Plaza in January.
The new additions bring a full management team of roughly 30 to University Plaza, Henley said.
"There's plenty of business to go around in Springfield, and we just want to make sure that we get some of it," said Henley, who was hired to University Plaza's top position in January.
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