Carlson Hotels Worldwide

Carlson Hospitality Worldwide today announced that it provided mentoring opportunities for several hundred high school students at its corporate headquarters plus hotel and restaurant locations across the nation as part of Groundhog Job Shadow Day, a mentoring initiative supported by America's Promise, the National Restaurant Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

High school students interested in pursuing a career in the hospitality industry were hosted at Carlson Companies headquarters in Minnetonka, Minn., Carlson Restaurants Worldwide headquarters in Dallas, Texas, and at over 100 locations of T.G.I. Friday's restaurants, Radisson Hotels & Resorts, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson and Park Hospitality. The students were paired with executives and managers and were given an inside look at the many career opportunities which are provided by the hospitality industry.

At the company's headquarters, students "shadowed" Nancy Johnson, senior vice president of development for Country Inns & Suites By Carlson; Sue Geurs, regional vice president of operations for Radisson Hotels & Resorts; and Jetse Pottinga, executive vice president of Park Hospitality; and then toured the Radisson Plaza Hotel Minneapolis, where they met one-on-one with the general manager and hotel employees.

At its headquarters in Dallas, T.G.I. Friday's welcomed 40 high school students, who met one-on-one with a corporate office employees, toured the test kitchen where they watched a cooking demonstration, learned about developing a menu, and participated in a question-and-answer session. Wally Doolin, president and CEO of Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, hosted two students at the T.G.I. Friday's in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Carlson Hospitality Worldwide takes a special interest in job mentoring programs such as Groundhog Job Shadow Day. Curtis Nelson, president and CEO of Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, has been at the forefront of attracting more employees to America's hospitality industry, having been honored by the American Hotel & Lodging Association in 2001 for his leadership of the association's taskforce, "Experience Lodging, A Hospitality Workforce Initiative."

"This was a wonderful opportunity to expose more young people to our industry and to show them the career tracks and upward mobility available to them," said Nelson. "For a program like this to be successful it must be supported at the local, grassroots level and we're pleased more than 100 Carlson hotels and restaurants participated nationwide."

Lori Sater Anderson
763-212-1024
Radisson Hotel Group