In the News

Serious about hospitality
Hall of Fame winner eyes national stage
BY MARY SUE IAROCCI
Westchester County Business Journal
Published: March 19, 2009

Marsha Gordon has the annual task of making congratulatory phone calls to five inductees to the Westchester County Business Hall of Fame.

Although reactions vary, screaming doesn’t usually ensue.

But it did this year when Robert Sanders Jr. got the call that his company, White Plains-based Hospitality Resource Group Inc. (HRG), won the 2009 Business Hall of Fame award for entrepreneurial success.

Gordon, president and CEO of The Business Council of Westchester, held the phone at arm’s length as HRG’s three partners expressed their excitement – loudly – and popped a bottle of champagne.

“That was one of the best reactions we’ve had,” said Patricia Nicolais, director of membership and special events at The Business Council of Westchester. “Most people are very excited, but no group screaming.”

Sanders founded HRG as an event planning company in 1997 from an office in his Mahopac garage. Since then, the company has grown and split into four divisions including event planning (Event Solutions) corporate training (Strategic Training Solutions) marketing, brand management and public relations (Allegis Communications) and event design and décor (iQuest Designs).
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HRG AWARDED 2009 ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS HALL OF FAME AWARD BY BUSINESS COUNCIL OF WESTCHESTER
White Plains Firm Joins Roster of Distinguished Westchester Businesses
Posted January 30, 2009

WHITE PLAINS, New York. . . . . January 30, 2009:  The Business Council of Westchester announced today that Hospitality Resource Group, Inc. (HRG) is this year’s winner of the Entrepreneurial Success Award and would be inducted into the Westchester Business Hall of Fame at a ceremony on April 22nd, 2009.  This ceremony will take place at the Glen Island Harbor Club, where HRG will be join the ranks of other distinguished businesses in the Westchester community.

“I am very proud and excited by this opportunity and recognition,” said Robert O. Sanders, Jr, CMP, the CEO and founder of HRG.  “This is further recognition of all the great work being done and the strong relationships being built.”

The Entrepreneurial Success Award is awarded annually to a company that began as a small business and has since developed and grown into a larger one.  The criteria used to determine the winning company includes growth and increase in annual sales, innovativeness in our products and services and contribution and commitment to the community.