Chair Fred Cook Resigns Wenonah Park Properties Board, John Lore Appointed
Former College President, Hospital Executive, to Join 5 Member Board
November 26, 2006
By: Dave Rogers
Dr. John S. Lore will take the seat on the five member board of Wenonah Park Properties, Inc.(WPP), replacing lumber broker Fred Cook who has resigned effective in January, 2007.
WPP is a non-profit organization formed in 2001 to oversee the hotel project that resulted in construction and operation of the DoubleTree Hotel - Bay City Riverfront.
Other WPP board members are Barb Dinauer, Rob Monroe, Tom Niemann and Bob Sarow. Dr. Lore will fill the term of Mr. Cook that expires in July, 2007.
A settlement agreement with Turner Construction Co. recently was agreed upon and a consulting firm to act as "asset manager" for the hotel was hired, according to minutes of the board. An agreement will be signed with Hospitality Advisors Consultant Group of Ann Arbor, the consulting firm recommended by Jackie Paul of Milestone Realty Services.
Meanwhile, DoubleTree Manager Tim Shelton reported the sales team had booked $336,000 in new business in September and noted the occupancy rate has risen to 80 percent in 2006 from 67 percent in 2005.
Mr. Shelton attributed the hike in occupancy to increased group and transient business resulting in the largest room revenue month for WPP. He said the business is still growing, up 12 percent on revenues from local business travel that accounts for half the transient business. Dow Chemical alone will double the number of rooms needed with DoubleTree this year, Mr. Shelton said.
Another hotel official, Tom Kos, reported that the hotel received a 95.5 percent rating from Hilton and is rated third in the country year-to-date among Hilton properties. It is No. 1 in the country in guest loyalty for the Hilton brand with a 90 percent rating, he said.
Dr. Lore, a native Bay Cityan, holds a doctor of education degree from Western Michigan University. A graduate of T.L. Handy High School, he also earned bachelors and masters degrees from WMU.
Dr. Lore became one of the youngest college presidents in the nation at Nazareth College, Kalamazoo, in 1975 at age 33.
In 1980 he was chosen by his peers to lead the Michigan Colleges Foundation. Six years later he was named senior vice president of St. John Health Corporation, an eight-hospital Detroit area health organization. That led to a post as CEO of St. Joseph Mercy Health System, a three-hospital group in Ann Arbor, and in 1999 to a key role in organizing Ascension Health, a 20-state group of Catholic hospitals headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that included Saginaw St. Mary and two Detroit hospitals, St. John and Providence.
A certified fundraising executive with extensive ties among organizations and funding sources alike, Dr. Lore has been recognized as a national spokesperson for philanthropy.
Dr. Lore headed the $10 million fundraising effort to establish the ConnectMichigan Alliance (CMA), securing a $20 million endowment by virtue of a $10 million state challenge grant initiated by former Gov. John Engler. The Alliance welds together four partnership groups: the Michigan Nonprofit Association, the Michigan Community Service Commission, Volunteer Centers of Michigan and the Michigan Campus Compact.
CMA focuses on youth volunteerism, community volunteerism, higher education and training and technical assistance.
He is currently a part-time fundraising consultant for the Detroit Medical Center and is administrative consultant for the Michigan Festivals and Events Association. He is also chair of the national Alliance of Senior Citizens Foundation and trustee for the Michigan Colleges Foundation.
Trustee posts with WPP are provided by individuals on a voluntary basis without compensation, according to City Manager Robert V. Belleman.
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