Interview with Ross and Ann Margaret Williams, owners
Q: How did you get involved in this business?
A: We both left corporate jobs in marketing and finance and decided to become small business owners. We were attracted to the unique market positioning of this company in the hospitality sector. We also saw a lot of growth potential in a quickly developing part of the metro area.
Q: What distinguishes you from other businesses in your category?
A: The majority of our revenue comes from weekday meetings and conferences. We target corporate customers that hold recurring events and have minimal sleeping room needs. We are much more affordable than most of our competition, as well. There are many expensive options in the Denver market, but far fewer cost effective, professionally run ones. We offer more flexibility, consistently superior service and lower prices.
Q: What do you like best about your line of work?
A: We have multiple answers so these two things are tied for best: The first answer is all of the great people we’ve gotten to meet and know in our nine-plus years. We estimate that approximately 50,000 people participate in events here annually. Additionally, one unique feature of this company is that while we can provide full service catering, we also allow outside catering. As a result, we have met folks from all sorts of different cultural backgrounds. It has been a great educational experience. The second answer is our staff. Hospitality is famous for employee turnover. However, our key staff has been with us for five or more years, and it helps in our work culture and betters our customers’ experiences here.
Q: What is your business’ biggest challenge?
A: There are two trends that we’ve observed in the past one to two years. One trend is that we are getting more and more last-minute bookings. Corporate and social customers are planning much more short term than they used to, which keeps up on our toes. The other trend is that attendees are failing to RSVP, which makes planning appropriate food and space needs difficult. We hope that the arrival of 2015 brings back the etiquette of RSVPs.
Q: Something people might be surprised to learn about you or your business:
A: Well, we have mentioned that we both hail from corporate backgrounds, working for Fortune 500 companies and on Wall Street. What surprises many is that while this is a small business, we have built an operational structure modeled after larger companies. We operate professionally, efficiently and smoothly.
Profile
Business: The Summit Conference & Event Center
Address: 411 Sable Boulevard North
Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday
Founded: 1999
Contact: 303-343-3833, ,
Employees: Around 10
