by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Quietly, and with very little fanfare, the Adam’s Mark Hotel is steadily establishing itself as Jacksonville’s premier hotel. From being the newest in town to landing the NFL and media for the 2005 Super Bowl, the hotel is slowly overcoming some of the issues it faced when it opened in February 2001.
Before the nationwide chain could even open its latest and third-largest hotel it had to deal with questions surrounding economic incentives, discrimination lawsuits and a revolving door on the general manager’s office.
Most, if not all, of those problems have faded. Today, the Adam’s Mark has as diverse a work force as any hotel in the South and a stabilizing factor that has helped synthesize the entire staff’s efforts: a general manager that not only enjoys his job now, but one who can’t wait for tomorrow.
When Don Dickhens took over as GM about six months ago, the economy and the entire hotel industry was in the middle of post-Sept. 11. Occupancy and staff moral were low and the hotel was still trying to identify with the community. Since then, things have improved.
“We are moving in the right direction,” said Dickhens.
Almost immediately, Dickhens realized two things. One, the management staff needed an overhaul and, two, he and the hotel needed more visibility and community interaction.
“I think what’s happened is we brought in a new team of managers that I think are more focused and eager,” said Dickhens, adding that corporate Adam’s Mark had very little influence on hiring decisions. “We went out and recruited ourselves. We got a lot of support from the corporate level and recommendations from them.
“We built a new team with a new direction and it’s paying off. The last two months our sales team has set records for this hotel for advance bookings. Most of them aren’t for this year. They are for next year and after that.”
In addition to surrounding himself with the right people, Dickhens has become involved with several of Jacksonville’s most prestigious volunteer organizations.
“I have joined the Gator Bowl Association’s board, the Super Bowl Host Committee and the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce,” said Dickhens. “And, I just became involved with Downtown Vision [Inc]. It’s a lot of meetings, but you have to be involved in the community, especially if you are the largest hotel in the city.”
All of those groups may be good for rubbing elbows with some of Jacksonville’s high-profile folks, but Dickhens actually seems to get more satisfaction from the hour he spends each week at Matthew Gilbert Middle School. Along with a dozen other Adam’s Mark executives, Dickhens serves as a mentor to a seventh-grader at the school. The program is called “Take Stock in Children,” and according to Laura Cagan, the regional director of advertising and promotions, the Adam’s Mark is unlike any other local corporation in the countywide program.
“We’ve taken over the entire school and we are the first corporation to do that,” she said.
Each mentor sees their student for an hour once a week and will stay with that student — provided they don’t do anything silly to get booted from the program — until the student graduates from high school. And, it’s an absolute win-win situation. The corporate executive gets the satisfaction of knowing they had a positive impact on a child for years and the graduate picks up a nice scholarship when they graduate.
“They each get a $20,000 scholarship,” said Dickhens. “They have to make good grades, be drug-free and alcohol-free and be disciplined. My student said he had a problem talking in class, but he’s working on it.”
Dickhens said the program — which has been going on since shortly after school started in early August — is especially gratifying because it doesn’t have be focused on academics. Often, the children simply need, or want, an outside adult influence who is emotionally unattached.
“That’s exactly what it is,” said Dickhens. “They [the children] can bring up anything. It’s a sounding board and they love it. To be a student in the program, the parents and the students have to write an essay explaining why they want in. They are all very intelligent kids.”
Back in the real world, Dickhens says business is good, but could be better. The economy is slowly recovering and the hotel should see business increase during the next few months.
“It’s still slow, as it is for the whole city and that’s an indication of the overall economy,” said Dickhens. “We are entering our busy season now and that kicks off with the Georgia-Florida weekend. We are sold out that weekend and we are having a party for the students on the decks. There will be a couple of bands and maybe even MTV. That’s not a definite, but we should know this week.”
Looking way ahead, there’s one event Dickhens, the hotel and the entire First Coast area is anticipating — the 2005 Super Bowl. Although it’s still two and a half years off, Dickhens’ eyes already light up when asked about the game. For the Adam’s Mark, it will be a week to shine. The NFL will send people to Jacksonville right after Jan. 1, 2005 for the Feb. 6, 2005 game.
“Around 100 rooms will be taken up and turned into offices,” said Dickhens. “They will have a staff of about 200-250 in here two to three weeks before the Super Bowl.”
The hotel will increase staff, too; Dickhens said he’ll add about 200 temporary employees to his staff of 600 for the game.
“It kind of outshines everything,” said Dickhens of the game. “Several of us are going to the Super Bowl in San Diego this year to get acquainted with how the host hotel operates the unique demands that come up.”