Article Excerpt:
TWST: Would you start with an overview of Lodgian? You have been there for just a couple of months, but how do you see the company at this point?Mr. Rohling: That's probably one of the most open-ended questions I have gotten so far. I felt the company had an inflection point, and that's a big reason why I joined Lodgian. We are at the point where the company has spent a lot of money improving its assets ' $120 million in the last 24 months ' and we're just finishing up the renovation process. At the same time, our markets are improving dramatically. About 18 months ago, the markets that we are currently in were not growing as fast as the national average. But at this stage of the game, we are keeping up with the national growth rate and last quarter we actually exceeded the pace in the aggregate. So we have the wind at our backs and it's a time when the people and management issues can really make a difference with this new product. That's a big part of the reason I came to the company. Over the next few years, I think the company will be able to take advantage of all the hard work that the Lodgian employees have done over the past few years.
TWST: What's been done and why?
Mr. Rohling: The company went through bankruptcy in 2002 and when it
came out, it was required to do some capital improvements and focus on
cost controls. Only now are we able to focus more on revenue growth and
get the benefit of that. But one of the things that have had an impact
on me is the quality of people who are here in the organization, both in
the home office and in the properties. These people know the company
history and their assets, and just needed to be in a position where a
lot of the restructuring and capital work was behind us, and they can
begin to move forward and put their skills into action. I am a firm
believer that the General Manager and the Director of Sales are the key
players at the property level. They are the ones who really have to be
focused and poised to take advantage of improvements in the physical
plant in their individual markets in order for a property to be
successful. In many cases, we have that combination of quality property,
good market and great staff, and we are poised to succeed.
Tickers included in this excerpt: LGN
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