Hospitality
Winner
Robert O’Loughlin
CEO
Lodging Hospitality Management
www.lhmc.com
Robert O’Loughlin has spent more than 40 years working in the hospitality industry and has honed his ability to identify the best location, best team and best plan to provide great service to his guests. The formula for how he does it is not complicated.
O’Loughlin has worked hard to develop relationships with many of the major corporations in the St. Louis region. Those partnerships have helped him endure tough times like economic slowdowns and to remain positive about the potential for growth in St. Louis. Like all successful entrepreneurs, he tightened his belt, continued to invest heavily in his properties and streamlined his operations to ensure satisfaction and a great experience for his guests.
O’Loughlin formed Lodging Hospitality Management Corp. in 1986. He initially focused on third-party management contracts and, after the severe hit on the industry due to a tax law change in the early 1980s, he began managing properties for lenders to allow for an orderly sale.
It was during this process that he began to discuss opportunities with potential investors and slowly began acquiring underperforming properties. His vast experience in the hospitality industry allowed him to quickly assess the potential of a property, buy it and pour money into it to make it a premier property.
Most recently, O’Loughlin acquired Union Station, which includes both hotel and retail venues. The first project was to turn 50,000 square feet of what was the midway into a convention center and exhibit hall. Another project is the renovation of the grand hall, transforming the beautiful and historic room into one of the best attractions in St. Louis.
When the convention center and exhibit hall is paired with the 539 guest rooms, it will allow St. Louis to attract conferences and trade shows that were never before available to the city.
Distribution
Winner
Dan Schuppan
President
MBS Textbook Exchange, Inc.
www.mbsbooks.com
Dan Schuppan doesn’t mind getting knocked off his feet every once in a while. He has found throughout his life that it’s often the people who face failure that ultimately achieve the greatest successes. His ability to turn a challenge into an opportunity is a key factor in the growth that has been achieved at MBS Textbook Exchange, Inc.
Schuppan, who serves as the company’s president, has been described as a hands-on, hard-charger with lots of energy who finds a lot of parallels between sports and business. While athletes compete against opponents and search for the best strategy to best their rivals on the field of play, businesses compete each day to provide the best service in the marketplace and outperform the competition.
A major turning point for MBS came back in 1979 when its leaders made a risky decision to invest in computer automation. While the competition said it couldn’t be done, it proved to be the right decision and the company put itself in a great position for the future. Now, MBS is well positioned to capitalize on the evolution from print to digital textbooks and develop a virtual bookstore for students to purchase all their materials.
As more customers complete orders online, it’s imperative for bookstores to create a comprehensive online retail presence. The systems of MBS remain the foundation for a bookstore’s operations as the company frequently introduces expansions and improvements to system components so operations stay as progressive and trouble-free as possible. The company has carefully crafted its own line of point-of-service systems, mobile devices, online solutions and training sessions.
The company employs a diverse group of individuals. Just off the main entrance is a framed poster of the world with 35 different country flags that represent the many backgrounds of the MBS family.
