NATIONAL REPORT—Whether it’s celebrating an anniversary, receiving an award, earning a certification, debuting a new product or expanding the business, hotel companies and vendors achieve new milestones on a daily basis. Here’s a look at recent accomplishments:
Raines Hospitality Completing Portfolio-Wide Transition to Aptech
Hotel management, development and investment group Raines Hospitality is nearing completion of a systemwide rollout of Aptech, the hospitality financial management solution. By Jan. 1, 19 properties in the company’s portfolio representing Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Choice and Best Western brands will be live with Aptech’s next-generation, browser-based enterprise accounting solution, PVNG, and soon, the company will launch Aptech’s new business intelligence tool, Execuvue.
PVNG is built with hospitality accounting features and functions in the latest technology. Aptech has taken 50 years of hotel accounting knowledge and put it on the most current technology platform incorporating accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, statistics, financials and bank reconciliation, all with easy to use, familiar browser navigation.
Nomadix Adds Kahangi to Executive Team
Nomadix Inc. has appointed Linda Kahangi to the role of chief information and operations officer. She joins the global management team to provide strategic guidance over operations, technology infrastructure, information security, network operations center (NOC) and customer service management. As Nomadix continues to expand its market leadership, Kahangi’s guidance will ensure the business will continue to deliver the operational efficiencies, product reliability and security, and top-notch customer and partner experiences.
Kahangi has a wealth of experience for wireless technologies and ISPs, serving in past roles as VP of technology and transformation at SAC Wireless, SVP of operations and engineering at Everywhere Wireless and EVP of operations for EarthLink. Previously, she served on the board of directors at Tellabs, a global network technology manufacturer, and as president of New Edge Networks.
Swafford Joins Strategic Solution Partners
Suzanne Swafford has joined Strategic Solution Partners as associate partner to oversee the revenue management consulting division. Combining her expertise in generating revenue and increasing profit with her passion for hospitality, Swafford brings a fresh, dynamic-edge to Strategic Solution Partners, according to the company.
As the former senior director of revenue management with Wyndham Hotel and Resorts, Swafford is no stranger to high demand challenges. During her time with Wyndham, she worked with full-service properties, asset management companies and ownership groups, and led the openings of five newly built resorts, two full brand integrations and more than 30 brand conversions. Over a 10-year average, her portfolio has boasted an annual total revenue growth of 10%, through the generation of various revenue department plans, channel maximization and partner strategies.
Beekeeper Allocates $20,000 Toward 2020 Charitable Giving Campaign
Beekeeper is giving back to the industry’s unsung heroes—those dedicated hotel workers who went above and beyond for guests, healthcare workers and first responders—by donating up to $20,000 to various nonprofit organizations chosen by its very own customers.
The company also added new critical integrations to strengthen the Beekeeper marketplace and support a hotel’s workforce more efficiently with an open platform optimized for mobile. Integration partners that joined Beekeeper this year include Ceridian (a provider of human resources software and services); UKG, formerly Kronos (an HR and workforce management solution provider); Lua (a robust housekeeping and task workflow management system); Typsy (an online hospitality learning platform); and SalesBoost (an on-demand skill-based learning and coaching platform). Beekeeper also integrates into the Microsoft Office 365 environment with an already functional SharePoint integration and an upcoming Teams integration.
In addition, improvements were made to existing features within the Beekeeper platform, from introducing a new home screen that makes finding relevant information and systems faster, to voice messaging, authenticated links and customer FAQ chatbots. Coming soon in 2021 will be a new Tasks feature as part of the Operational Suite, which will enable teams to manage their tasks on the go, directly from their employee app.
Omni CleanAir Launches Portable Air Purification Devices
Omni CleanAir, maker of commercial-grade air purification systems for demanding environments, has launched a new family of portable air purification devices. The OCA Professional Series eliminates the dangers of pathogens, including COVID-19, from everyday workspaces in offices, schools, medical and dental practices allowing businesses to reopen safely.
Omni CleanAir’s portable units combine high-capacity airflow, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), and true HEPA filtration to remove dangerous airborne particles and disable pathogens as quickly as every five minutes.
The new OCA Professional Series is specifically designed for easy deployment into everyday indoor spaces with simple installation and operation that requires no special training or expertise; powerful performance that achieves up to 12 complete air changes per hour; and easy and infrequent maintenance. The individual models differ only in airflow capacity, providing maximum flexibility to accommodate the near-endless shapes and sizes of everyday workspaces. Multiple units can also be used to increase airflow in larger treatment areas.