SEATTLE— AFM Hospitality Corp. has realigned its corporate structure and executive responsibilities, following two years of growth in its franchise and management divisions. The realignment is designed to assure effective integration of new operating units and further accelerate growth through continued acquisitions and internal operating expansion. Effective October 1st, Lawrence Horwitz, one of the founders of Northwest Lodging and Chairman of AFM Hospitality for the past two years, will take on added responsibilities as CEO. Horwitz will continue to be based at the company’s US headquarters in Seattle, and divide his time between Seattle and AFM’s Canadian headquarters in Toronto, ON and Western Canada office in Vancouver, BC. Stephen Phillips, one of the original founders of AFM and an architect of the company’s recent expansion, will shift his responsibilities from a combination of day-to-day operations and seeking growth opportunities as CEO to one in which he concentrates on continued growth and future expansion as Vice Chairman & managing director/business development. Phillips will continue to be based at the company’s Western Canada office in Vancouver. Under the new structure, as chairman & CEO Horwitz will oversee AFM’s ongoing management and franchise divisions, as well as operational, legal, financial and administrative activities. As vice chairman & managing director, Phillips will be in charge of the newly formed AFM Business Development division, AFM Preferred Alliance Group (one Canada’s largest providers of purchasing services to the hospitality industry, representing the potential buying power of more than 2 300,000 guestrooms), and the newly formed AFM Communications. Phillips also will continue to serve on the board of directors and as a member of the executive committee. Formed in 1991 as the master Canadian franchisor of 12 Howard Johnson hotels, AFM’s portfolio now includes more than 22,000 guestrooms and estimated system wide sales exceeding CDN $325 million. Also, as previously reported by HOTEL BUSINESS®, within the past 30 days, AFM has inked non-binding letters of intent to acquire Trigild Services of San Diego, CA and Marshall Management of Salisbury, MD. After the completion of these acquisitions, AFM through its subsidiaries Northwest Lodging International (USA), Northwest Lodging International (Canada) and Marshall Management, will have 71 hotels under management contract, representing more than 7,000 rooms.