NABHOOD Seeks Membership Expansion

MIAMI BEACH, FL— During the course of a late-afternoon session at the Sixth Annual International Multicultural Tourism/Hotel-Ownership Summit & Trade Show here led by Lodging Hospitality Systems President/CEO Jay Patel, NABHOOD President Andy Ingraham and Fuller Development’s William Fuller were among those on hand to explain the role the organization seeks to play and the future it is working to chart for African-American entrepreneurs in “the creation of wealth” via hotel (and real-estate) ownership. Furthermore, while Ingraham admitted much of the industry’s attention has been focused on NABHOOD’s “reaching out to [well-capitalized] athletes to ‘sell them’ on the solid investment that is real estate,” he added the organization was certainly not against reaching out to offer its considerable help and resources to “average” investors (i.e. those who might be in a position to bring more in the way of industry expertise and personal commitment than capital to a particular venture). Along these lines, the panelists were challenged by those in the audience to speedily implement a program designed specifically to get “smaller” investors involved in the hotel-ownership arena. As such, it was generally agreed not all new entrants to the field necessarily have to start off with an investment along the lines of the newly opened Royal Palm Crowne Plaza Resort, the decidedly upscale venue for this year’s annual conclave. —Michael Billig