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Randell A. Smith, CEO and co-founder of
Hendersonville, Tenn.-based STR, was presented with the
prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the Americas Lodging
Investment Summit (ALIS) on 26 January, 2010, in San Diego. Smith
was recognized for his legacy in pioneering global hotel
benchmarking, the foundation of the company he co-founded with his
wife, Carolyn Smith.
"We have had the privilege of
working with all of the major brands in this industry, and I am
constantly impressed by their talent and knowledge," Smith said to
attendees. Smith also thanked his former colleagues at Laventhol &
Horwath, where he began his career as an analyst. Smith cited his
mentor, the late John Lesure, as being instrumental in the
launching of STR. In addition, he thanked the American Hotel &
Lodging Association, STR employees, STR president and long-time
friend Mark Lomanno, and his wife, Carolyn Smith. "Without
Carolyn's encouragement, insight, knowledge and expertise, STR
would have never succeeded," he said. "Together we created and
built the company that enabled me to win this award today."
Smith launched STR in 1985 in Lancaster, Pa., to
create a service to provide the best information on overall
performance trends to the lodging industry and its observers. The
company moved to Tennessee in 1987. The initial concept was to
create a complete list of all properties in the United States and
provide that list to suppliers to create districts and territories
for their sales staff. That project developed into the STAR
program in 1988, which has grown into a series of daily, weekly
and monthly reports made available to the hotel industry. The STAR
program has become the definitive source of benchmarking
information for chains, management companies, lenders, appraisers,
consultants and developers.
In 2008, STR brought together Deloitte's
HotelBenchmark business and The Bench to form STR Global, which
offers monthly, weekly and daily STAR benchmarking reports to more
than 38,000 hotel clients, representing nearly 5 million rooms
worldwide. In addition to the headquarters
in Hendersonville and the STR Global office in London, STR has
offices in Boulder, Colo., and Cleveland, Ohio.
Smith is a member and past co-chairman of the
AH&LA's Industry Real Estate Financing Advisory Council (IREFAC)
and the 2002 recipient of its prestigious C. Everett Johnson
Award. He is vice chair of the American Hotel & Lodging Foundation
Funding Committee. He is a charter member of the International
Society of Hospitality Consultants and a former member of the
board of directors, and he was awarded the ISHC's 1996 Industry
Pioneer Award for outstanding contributions to the lodging
industry. Smith is a 2007 inductee to the Florida State University
College of Business Hall of Fame.
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