|
Seated from left; Bill Zaiser-
Director, Edgar Sims, Jr..-Chairman
of the Board, Kim
Sims-President
Second row-from left- Steve Smith-E.V.P. Operations,
Chris Sims
-E.V.P. Marketing, Drew Sims-Director.
Board
of Directors
William
J. Zaiser, CPA
Principal and Director
Accountant,
educator and computer expert, William Zaiser, CPA, brings
considerable skills to the job of Vice President of Accounting for MHI, a
position he has held since 1990.
Zaiser
began his association with MHI as a computer consultant, computerizing and
maintaining the payroll and reporting functions for the company.
He joined MHI full time in 1986 as the company’s first corporate
controller. Providing strong
leadership to the organization's financial reporting and control systems
and computerizing all of the back-office functions, Zaiser was elected to
the board of directors in 1990 and was promoted to Vice President of
Accounting.
Today,
he is responsible for financial analysis, cash management, insurance,
investment and reporting, and is the company’s primary contact for human
resource programs such as retirement and health plans.
Before
joining the hospitality industry, Zaiser was an instructor of mathematics
at both the University of Maryland and Montgomery College and taught math
and computer programming at several high schools and preparatory schools.
He coached soccer, basketball and tennis throughout his teaching
career, and continues coaching at the recreational level for the City of
Rockville, Maryland, where he resides.
A
licensed CPA in the state of Maryland, Zaiser holds a masters in applied
mathematics from the University of Maryland and bachelors’ degrees in
mathematics and physics from Ohio Wesleyan University.
He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants, the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants and
the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals.
[Back
to top]
Chris Sims
Principal
Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing
Chris
Sims brings a lifetime of experience in the hospitality industry to his
role as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for MHI Hotels.
Growing up at the Royal Pine Motel in College Park, Maryland, Sims
learned the meaning of hospitality and customer service from a very early
age, and today, continues to ensure that the company philosophy is
implemented throughout all MHI properties.
He
joined MHI in 1981 after graduating from college, returning to the Best
Western Royal Pine Motel as front office manager and quickly assuming
greater responsibility for MHI properties.
Following successes as sales manager and general manager for the
Best Western Maryland Inn, Sims was promoted to Vice President of Sales
and Marketing in 1988, as MHI expanded geographically and doubled the
number of rooms under management.
Today,
Sims is responsible for sales and marketing efforts for MHI’s nine
properties with more than 1,500 employees and 2,000 rooms.
Under his leadership, revenues grew to a record $55 million in 1999
and the company has associated with well-known, upscale brands including
Hilton, Crowne Plaza, Sheraton and Holiday Inn Select.
Sims
has been instrumental in the opening of a number of MHI properties,
including the Jacksonville Hilton in Florida and the DeSoto Hilton in
Savannah, Georgia as well as two other recently completed projects:
the reopening of the Whitehall Hotel in downtown Houston as the
Crowne Plaza and the Holiday Inn Select in Fredericksburg, VA.
A
graduate of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia with a bachelor’s degree
in economics, Sims is First Vice President of the Prince George Conference
and Visitors Bureau and a member of Hospitality Sales and Marketing
Association International. He
is also actively involved in the community as a youth sports coach and as
a member of the Capital Campaign Fund Committee for the Academy of the
Holy Cross in Kensington, Md.
[Back
to top]
Edgar Sims
Principal
Chairman of the Board
Edgar Sims is the founding father of MHI
Hotels, formerly known as Maryland Hospitality, Inc.
[Back
to top]
Steve Smith
Principal
Executive Vice President Operations
Steve Smith has the
distinction of being the first non-family member invited onto the
Board of Directors and Principal of MHI Hotels. Similar to the Sims
brothers, Smith began his hospitality career at a young age.
Contrary to the brothers' early experiences, his background was food and
beverage.
Working to pay his own way through school, he spent six summers in Ocean
City, Maryland learning restaurant operations from Phillips Seafood
Restaurants and the Harrison Group Hotels (both family run
businesses). Smith was exposed to management responsibilities to
total unit operations. His F&B expertise remains vital to the
success of MHI while his ability to recruit and lead executive level
property managers has become his forte'.
A graduate of Washington & Lee University in Virginia with a
bachelor's degree in economics, Smith remains active in the National
Restaurant Association and as a Board Member of the Restaurant Association
Of Maryland (RAM). In 2000, Smith received the prestigious
Schellhase Award from RAM in recognition for his vastly successful
contributions to the organization. He is also a member of the American
Hotel Lodging Association and the Society of Human Resource Managers.
[Back
to top]
Kim Sims
Principal
President
Kim Sims
brings a wealth of experience that raises the level of expertise and
excellence for the company as a whole. As the eldest son in the Sims
family, he is committed to providing the bridge from the past to the
future that his father, Edgar, instilled in him as a young
man.
After many years
of learning every aspect of the hospitality industry first-hand, Kim
took over the helm of the Best Western Maryland Inn in Laurel, Maryland in
1986. His guidance produced results which propelled MHI into a
multi-property management company. His efforts proved crucial to MHI's
expansion into the state of Virginia by purchasing the Holiday Inn
Downtown.
Sims knowledge of
construction and design has been invaluable as MHI's focus has expanded
into renovating distressed properties. He calls on his own
experience and a team of architectural and design assistants to implement
the vision he sees possible. Sims focus on details is
well-known throughout the company and this focus and its impact on the
company and the bottom-line is legendary.
[Back
to top]
Andrew Sims
Principal and Director
For
nearly two decades, Andrew “Drew” Sims has played an ever-increasing
role in the Maryland-based hospitality company’s growth and
diversification. He became
President of MHI in 1995 after seven years as Vice President of Finance
& Development. In that position, Sims was instrumental in the purchase and
renovation of several properties that drove the growth of MHI through the
1990s. Among the acquisitions
he helped negotiate are the Hilton Philadelphia Airport, the Hilton
Wilmington Riverside (North Carolina) and Shell Island Resort,
Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.
Sims
began his career as a sales associate for Merrill Lynch Commercial Realty,
quickly moving to MHI as General Manager of the company’s second
hotel—the Interstate Inn, College Park, Maryland.
Sims managed the $2 million renovation of the property and its
reopening under the Best Western franchise.
After five years at the hotel, he was promoted to regional manager
and oversaw MHI’s expansion into Virginia and North Carolina where the
company acquired five new properties.
His
role as President of MHI Hotels continues a tradition of family management
which began with his father, Edgar Sims, Jr., who founded MHI as Maryland
Hospitality, Inc. in 1957 with the purchase of the Royal Pine Motel in
College Park, Maryland. Growing
up at the Motel, the middle of three sons learned the meaning of
hospitality at an early age and continues to carry the company’s
philosophy into all business ventures.
Andrew Sims has expanded on his parents’ vast knowledge and
experience in the hotel business, utilizing his own business expertise to
help establish MHI as a respected and well-managed lodging management
company, characterized by prudent growth, responsible development and
quality lodging.
He
is a graduate of Washington & Lee University, Lexington, Virginia with
a bachelor’s degree in commerce. An
officer of MHI Hotels since 1980, Sims currently resides in Williamsburg,
Virginia.
[Back to top]
|
