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Putting Heart Into Hospitality
Event planning, training, and marketing firm Hospitality Resource Group has grown steadily by combining a personal approach with a flair for technology.
A Storybook Journey
Like many successful companies, HRG’s roots are typical start-up/ bootstrap material. “I started HRG back in 1997, in my garage,” says Sanders, who grew up in Chappaqua and now resides in Mahopac. “It’s a classic story. I had a two-car garage, and I literally built a wall and a door and had an office. The journey began at that point.”
Before that journey, were experi- ences that put Sanders on the path to entrepreneurship. After graduating from the University of South Carolina in 1984 with a degree in hotel/restau- rant management, Sanders got a job with Marriott, where he worked in a variety of cities en route to becoming director of catering sales for the Marriott Marquis in Midtown Manhattan in 1993.
In 1995, after years of working 100-hour weeks to put together “huge events for thousands of people,” Sanders, then a married father to two small children, decided it was time to spend more time with his family. He left Marriott and took a job at wed- ding- and event-catering firm Abigail Kirsch at Tappan Hill in Tarrytown.
It was there Sanders learned about the nuances of being an entrepreneur and running a small business. Three
B y M a r y S u e I a r oB c c i
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three divisions under its wing (Event Solutions, which manages and pro- duces corporate and nonprofit events; Strategic Training Solutions (STS), which offers training, organizational development, and HR consulting; and Allegis Communications, a marketing and branding firm), HRG’s evolution is a classic story of organic growth and word-of-mouth advertising.
“Referrals are like gold to us, and we mine that gold every day,” says Sanders, who now serves as HRG’s chairman. “Eighty-five percent of our business comes from referrals. That’s a huge number, and that’s something we take very seriously.” He notes that clients often serve as HRG’s most ar- dent cheerleaders, recommending the company at board meetings, cli- ent meetings, and other events where someone needs a service that HRG provides.
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At HRG's White Plains headquarters, staff members work to plan, execute, and market events for some of Westchester's top corporations and nonprofits.
Sanders Jr.’s successes in the hos- pitality industry included plan- ning and managing high-profile events, like the Daytime Emmys, and working at one of New York
City’s largest hotels. His career game changer, however, turned out to be a charity fundraiser at the Rye Town Hilton (now the Hilton Westchester).
It was 1998, and the American Red Cross hired Sanders to plan its annual “Touch of Red” fundraising gala. It marked Sanders’ first big event as an entrepreneur, and the positive response and ensuing referrals ended up sparking the growth of the company that is today Hospitality Resource Group, Inc. (HRG) in White Plains.
Currently celebrating its 19th anniversary, with 16 employees in Westchester and Manhattan, and
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Photographs by John O’Donnell
MONEY TALK