Hawai‘i hospitality executive Elliot Mills says he and Jerry Gibson, another longtime industry leader, have — first and foremost — been friends "for many many years."
Both men have spent decades working in the sector, leading some of the largest hospitality operations in the Islands, but they've now teamed up to launch Hawai‘i Hospitality Group, a new asset management firm headquartered on O‘ahu, "focused on hotel, resort and tourism-aligned real estate" across the state, a recent announcement noted.
Mills, who serves as CEO and managing partner of HHG, has held leadership roles with Marriott International, oversaw Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, as well as the Disneyland Resort hotels in California, and is a board director for the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Gibson, the president and founding member of Hawai‘i Hotel Alliance, previously held senior leadership roles with Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and Blackstone, and was area vice president for Hilton Hotels and Resorts. He serves as president of HHG.
Mills told Aloha State Daily on Monday that an effort like this has "always been in the back of my mind," with both men having spent time with different brands, working in the industry and working locally at different resorts.
As the pair thought about what their careers might look like in the future, Mills says, "we thought that we could provide more value at this stage of our careers, working with specific individuals in the industry, and using the talents that we have locally, along with our strategic partners, to bring added value to some of the ownership groups — also to lend to a broader sense of place for Hawai‘i."
The work they're doing, focused on Hawai‘i as a hospitality asset management group, "doesn't really exist" in the state right now, he said.
According to Mills, the pair thought that with a local perspective, with an understanding of the business here — marketing, sales, revenue, government relations, public relations, cultural issues and other facets — they could "add a lot of value in that space, and also create a space where Jerry and I could actually work together along with a lot of our long-time friends and associates within the hospitality area."
It also is a chance to "have some fun and work for good people and create value for those individuals who would appreciate us working with them and bringing higher performance levels to the assets that they're managing now and into the future — and also creating a great connection with our community."
Mills says Hawai‘i is a unique place and it benefits the hospitality industry to align with and understand the culture and communities in which it works.
"When that alignment happens, when we consider those issues, the priorities of the community and the host culture and the values that it brings, I think it creates more value for the entire ecosystem, collectively," he said. "Having that perspective and having the experience that Jerry and I have, along with the rest of our partners, helps to create that alignment a little bit better than we have in the past. To share that narrative with ownership groups, the management companies, as well as the guests and consumers who are coming to Hawai‘i, to us is really important. I think the greater we create that alignment, the more successful everybody will be."
Gibson told ASD Monday that the ultimate goal is to create "great value" for their future clients.
"Hawai‘i is really a different community to come into," he says. "We're blessed with all these different ethnic cultures that we have, and a lot of people who do come into Hawai‘i have a difficult time beginning because they don't understand that. Because we have been involved and immersed in this culture so long, I think that that's one real big thing that we could do, obviously, to help them with their businesses, as they begin to hire people in the community, whether they bring in people or not."
Mills said, too, that what's important with the organizations they'd like to work with is creating a great organizational culture within the companies that are tied to assets here.
In the short-term, though, the Mills said one goal is to "make sure everybody understand who we are and what we're doing."
The new organization already has a client list that includes Waikīkī Beach Marriott Resort & Spat and Kaimana Beach Hotel on O‘ahu and Hotel Wailea on Maui.
According to the announcement, HHG offers a range of asset management services including strategic planning and capital alignment, operator and brand oversight, performance optimization, and cultural integration and community engagement.
HHG also works with a "Strategic Partner Network," which includes advisers likes chef and restaurateur Roy Yamaguchi; cultural producer and consultant Afatia Thompson; B.J. Kobayashi, founder and CEO of BlackSand Capital, a Hawai‘i-focused real estate private equity firm; employment and labor law attorney Darin Leong; Eric Heenan, president of Alaka‘i Executive Search; Rob Iopa with WCIT Architecture; Alana Kobayashi Pakkala, CEO of Kobayashi Group; Dean Yamamoto, an attorney focusing on corporate, financing, real estate and regulatory law; Joan Bennet, president and CEO of Bennet Group Strategic Communications; and hospitality real estate consultants and brokers Tim Powell and Kevin Aucello, principals at Powell & Aucello.
Mills told ASD that this team is not comprised of people they trust and have worked with throughout the years, but they're also individuals who are "very deeply rooted in Hawai‘i, best in class in their discipline," who can provide expertise in all facets of hospitality.
Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
