Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> March 24, 1999
DONALD H. DEMPSEY is Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
and a member of the Board of Directors of Equity Inns, Inc.
headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. Equity Inns is a large lodging REIT
owning more than one hundred hotels in 36 states with seven different
flags, including Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Comfort Inn, Holiday
Inn, AmeriSuites, Homewood Suites and Residence Inn. Mr. Dempsey came
to Equity Inns in July 1998 with almost 30 years in corporate and
financial management experience within the hotel industry. Most
recently, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of Choice Hotels International in Silver Spring, Maryland. Prior
to joining Choice in January 1998, he served as Senior Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer of Promus Hotel Corporation. Mr. Dempsey
spent 14 years at Promus and its predecessor companies included Embassy
Suites, Hampton Inn & Suites and Promus-branded Vacation Resorts. He was
named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 1995, prior
to the spin-off of the hotel company from the Promus companies
Incorporated, which included Harrahs Entertainment Inc. From 1993 to
1995, Mr. Dempsey served as Senior Vice President of Finance and
Administration for the hotel division of The Promus Companies. From 1983
to 1993, he served as Vice President of Finance and Administration and
Vice President of Franchising and Development for Hampton Inns. Mr.
Dempsey held various corporate and financial management and
administrative positions with Holiday Inns from 1969 to 1983. Prior to
joining Holiday Inns, Mr. Dempsey served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He
received a Bachelors of Science degree in Accounting from Mississippi
State University, and he is a CPA in the State of Tennessee. Profile
Equity Inns, the secular market you're in, geography, that kind of
thing?
Mr. Dempsey: We started out in 1994 with our
