30 Years and Growing
Williamsburg, VA (August 25, 2020) – Newport Hospitality Group Inc (Newport), a leading hotel management company, celebrates 30-years of hospitality during an unusually difficult year for the hotel industry. As the company looks forward to better times, they are also taking time to look back on what shaped them into the successful company they are today.
The story is a tale of two cousins and begins in the 1850s, when a Swedish immigrant and successful merchant, S.M. Swenson, began purchasing vast tracks of land in West Texas. Swenson’s sons leased the land from their father and founded the Swenson Land and Cattle Company, which continued to operate for the next 140 years. The ranch stayed in the Swenson Family for generations.
In the early 1990s, Bill Carey, a great-grandson of S.M. Swenson and a successful entrepreneur and rancher, began searching for new business opportunities. He only had to look to his cousin, Mike Pleninger, for the answer. Pleninger had spent his entire career building and managing hotels and was also searching for opportunities to launch a new business. At family gatherings, the two began talking about their passions and found they were similar. Carey and Pleninger started to create a vision for their lodging venture. Bill Carey stated, “Together, we brought the fundamental principles of running successful businesses to our new venture, specifically, hard work, community responsibility, and moral integrity, and Newport was born.” On September 1, 1990, the company started in a small office in Newport News, Virginia. (hence the name)
Since the first day, Newport leadership has created real value for the three pillars of successful hospitality – guests, team members, and owners. As hoteliers, they live for guest service. They aspire to create strong positive experiences for every person who visits their hotels. To achieve this, as leaders, they create memorable and exciting career opportunities for all their team members. All team members understand that they have senior leadership’s commitment to their personal well-being and professional advancement. Lastly, this environment could not be sustained without an ongoing commitment to generating outsized returns for clients. Newport’s revenue generation team is complemented by its relentless focus on delivering bottom-line results through cost savings and operational efficiency.
According to Mike Pleninger, “Our focus on corporate culture and our core values sets us apart from other hotel management companies. Our people-centered culture is designed to inspire and engage our team members., managers, partners, and executives in the Newport family. Our people are our lifeblood, and we strive to create an environment where each individual can thrive, both personally and professionally.”
In typical Newport fashion, a remote celebration to include all team members and partners will be held on September 1, 2020, complete with individual birthday cakes at each location. Pleninger and Carey both will tell you that it is the people who make a hospitality company a success.
Newport Hospitality Group Inc., located in Williamsburg, Virginia, is a leading hotel management company specializing in select and full-service hotels. They operate more than 50 hotels in the Eastern United States. Their diverse portfolio includes independent boutique hotels and top brands such as Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, Wyndham, Choice, and Intercontinental Hotel Group.
