CEO NEWSLETTER
CEO Newsletter
Team,
At long last, we have officially signed our contract with the Washington State Ferries (WSF) and will begin operations tomorrow! As most everyone is aware, we were awarded this contract several months ago, however the incumbent food service provider exercised the right to appeal the process, delaying our takeover by almost 6 months. While it has been a long wait, I’m proud of our company’s measured response, as well as the massive and ongoing teamwork and recruiting efforts on display. And, to all of our new Centerplate colleagues in Washington: Welcome aboard! Please join me in extending our best wishes to everyone who will come together as part of the Centerplate team to make it better to be there in Seattle.
There have been so many people involved in bringing this project to life that it is impossible to mention them all here. Notably, Josh Pell brought this opportunity to us and will ultimately begin running this logistically challenging account which is projected to produce revenues of $16M+ annually. To win, we not only had to have a compelling response to the RFP, we also had to prove that we understand what it takes to oversee this type of business. As such, we were fortunate to have the leadership of Dave Oberlander who stepped up to travel across the country on multiple occasions to share his experience and knowledge of our Steamship operation on Cape Cod with the WSF selection committee. In addition to Dave and Josh, this was a total Team Centerplate win. I’m afraid that I’ll leave someone out, so please accept my apologies in advance – I know it’s safe to say that we would not have won this account without the fine work of Bob Pascal, Steve Dominguez, Greg Fender, Keith King, Diana Evans, Eric Wooden, Lauren Gretzula and Lori Oberlander (for letting Dave spend so much time in Seattle). And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the full support that we received from Human Resources, in particular Justin Thulien, along with our unit at Safeco Field and our client Kevin Mather, President of the Seattle Mariners.
Centerplate also began operations this month at another new account – Zephyr Field, a multi-use facility and home of the New Orleans Zephyrs minor league baseball team – just in time for the kickoff game of the first annual Catholic League Football Series, a heavily attended high school football series. We will operate the concessions and suites at the 11,000-seat stadium which celebrated its 20th season this year. Centerplate will be helping the team on its upcoming re-brand and new vision for an expanding business. Congratulations to Steve Trotter for tracking this opportunity down and, with the help of Steve Cahoon, Eric Wooden and Lauren Gretzula, delivering the winning sales pitch.
I am also happy to report that we recently signed an extension with the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex – thanks to Matt Gebel and Bobby Dichiaro for securing this renewal. Let’s keep them coming!
We have also been busy with several industry conferences. I had the pleasure of attending the ISKINY conference at Holiday Valley for ski resort managers in New York and Pennsylvania. We had the opportunity to engage with prospective clients and spend time with some of our current clients. Franco Brady and his team did a spectacular job representing Centerplate and received a rousing round of applause from the attendees as well as several accolades from the conference director during the closing ceremony.
Warner Brothers Studio Tour London was the site of the ALVA (Association of Leading Visitor Attractions) Dinner. Helen Baker and her team presented a flawless culinary evening for 120 in the “Hogwarts Great Hall” from the Harry Potter movies. Tremendous feedback from the event reinforces our strong partnership with Warner Brothers in the UK.
The San Diego Convention Center welcomed the 2016 Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) Conference, with great compliments from our AZA clients and guests on the outstanding job by our San Diego team. Kay Towner, John Stockholm, Pete Schoener, Pat Cummings and John Vingas represented Centerplate and had the opportunity to mingle with prospective clients and talk shop with several of our current clients. A large group from the Indianapolis Zoo was in attendance—getting ready to serve as proud hosts of the conference in 2017!
A round of applause to our Centerplate UK team for awards galore this month! We’re honored to have received the SLC Award for RAF Museum Hendon for Heritage and Arts Venue of the year and Café 1505 at the Royal College of Surgeons was the recipient of two Café Life Gold Awards for Café Design and Independent Café/Coffee Bar.
Finally, it’s that time of year again when we need to start thinking about the 2017 budget process. Instructions and timing will be coming out soon. Please make sure that you are totally vested in the process and at the same time, don’t lose sight of your targeted goals for the balance of 2016.
Thanks for everything that you do. I’ll see you soon …
