Chair of the Board: Looking to the Future
By: Paul Wegert | March 2024
Dear Members,
Welcome to the New Year! It’s an exciting time for the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association and for the hospitality industry as a whole. As your newly appointed chairman, I couldn’t be more proud of what this organization has accomplished, the battles we have fought and won. Nor have never been so excited for what the future holds in store.
I have the greatest confidence in our ability to face the challenges ahead of us; there’s never a shortage of them, which is why our persistence, strength, and unified efforts through the MRLA are essential to our industry’s continued success.
The landscape is ever-shifting. There have been more upsets and changes within our industry in the past three years than in the entire two decades prior, but the MRLA has gone above and beyond to lead the hospitality industry by organizing food drives, using grants to assist families and businesses, supporting day-to-day hotel and restaurant operations during complicated and unprecedented times, and more.
Welcome to the New Year! It’s an exciting time for the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association and for the hospitality industry as a whole. As your newly appointed chairman, I couldn’t be more proud of what this organization has accomplished, the battles we have fought and won. Nor have never been so excited for what the future holds in store.
I have the greatest confidence in our ability to face the challenges ahead of us; there’s never a shortage of them, which is why our persistence, strength, and unified efforts through the MRLA are essential to our industry’s continued success.
The landscape is ever-shifting. There have been more upsets and changes within our industry in the past three years than in the entire two decades prior, but the MRLA has gone above and beyond to lead the hospitality industry by organizing food drives, using grants to assist families and businesses, supporting day-to-day hotel and restaurant operations during complicated and unprecedented times, and more.
As the first chairman with a hotelier’s background since the Michigan Restaurant Association merged in 2019 with Check-In Michigan, the previous statewide lodging association, my goal will be continuing to bridge the gap between the vibrant worlds of restaurants and lodging. Drawing on my experience in the hospitality industry, I am committed to fostering collaboration, innovation, and growth for both sectors.
One example of that collaboration between the lodging and restaurant branches of the hospitality industry is the new relationship MRLA forged with the American Hospitality and Lodging Association (AHLA). Last year, Chip Rogers, President and CEO of AHLA, attended the national association’s “On The Road” event held at Saint John’s Resort. This was the first time an officer of the AHLA has come to Michigan in decades, and it was in no small part due to MRLA President & CEO Justin Winslow’s efforts to foster a relationship between our two organizations.
In closing, I am proud to be your new chairman and to be leading the charge of such a powerful organization during a pivotal year. Collectively, our efforts over this next year will be instrumental in directing key legislative decisions for our industry
At your service,
Paul C. Wegert, CHA
Boutique Hotel Professionals
MRLA Chairman
Paul C. Wegert, CHA
Boutique Hotel Professionals
MRLA Chairman
