Personnel

John W. Balliett, Chairman and C.E.O.

John has been involved in the hospitality industry as an owner, manager and entrepreneur since 1981 when he formed Charter One.

John graduated from Grove City College with a Bachelor of Science in Physics in 1969 and went to work for Eastman Kodak while continuing his education at the University of Rochester. Leaving Kodak, he joined Coherent Radiation as Manager of the Applied Optics Department before becoming Director of Marketing for their TROPEL subsidiary based in Fairport, New York. In 1973, he formed Quality Measurement System, Inc., which was sold to a fortune 500 company in 1978 when he relocated to Sarasota, Florida. There he became involved in several business and real estate investments before founding Charter One in 1981.

Under his leadership, Charter One has grown to a hotel management company with gross revenues of $45,000,000, employing over 800 people in Florida and New York. Hotel brands include Radisson, Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn, Ramada, Best Western & Holiday Inn Express.

Born in Rochester, New York in 1947, John is married and has one daughter attending Wake Forest University. He holds several patents, has written numerous articles and is listed in "Marquis Who's Who in America". John is a licensed mortgage broker and has acted as a court appointed receiver on several hotel projects. He is active at his church, sits as a citizen member of the Florida Bar Grievance Committee, and is an avid amateur photographer.

Jim G. Popielinski, President

Jim graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. degree in Hotel Administration. Jim has over twenty-two years experience in hotel operation and sales for Marriott, Westin Hotels, and Radisson Hotel Corporation. His expertise is in opening new hotels, including the world's tallest hotel in Atlanta. Jim is the past President of the Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau, has served on the Ad Hoc Committee for the Florida Tourism Commission, and is on the Board of Directors of the Florida Hotel & Motel Association. He is listed in AHMA's Who's Who in the Lodging Industry and too has served as a court appointed receiver on numerous occasions.

Michael P. Irwin, Vice President of Operations

Michael graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Mike has over 25 years of experience in hotel, marketing, and food & beverage operations with Brock Hotel Corporation, Embassy Suites and Registry Hotel Corporation. He joined Charter One in 1993 and has an excellent track record in the industry. Mike oversees all the operational aspects of the hotels and is responsible for the overall staffing and development of operational systems and procedures for all Charter One properties.

Larry T. Tyner, Sr., Corporate Controller

Larry graduated from Stetson University with a BBA degree in Accounting, passed the CPA exam, and is additionally certified as a CHAE and a CHA. Before joining Charter One in 2000, Larry had thirty years of hotel accounting and operations experience with Daytona Motel Corp, Days Inn of America, Hotel Management Service, Richfield Hospitality Services and Professional Hotel Management. Larry is a member of the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals, the Georgia Society of CPA's, and the American Institute of CPA's. His experience is in hospitality accounting, front office procedures, food and beverage controls and operations. He is responsible for overseeing all the accounting, internal controls, audits and front and back office procedures.

Cusic Daniels, Corporate Director of Sales & Marketing    (e-mail)

Cusic graduated from De Sales University. Cusic has over twenty years of operations and sales and marketing experience in the hospitality industry working for Ampak Group, Red Roof Inns, American International Hotels and Americana Hotels. He assists the hotels in all of their sales, ecommerce and marketing efforts.

Charter One Hotels & Resorts considers Sales & Marketing to be critical to a property's success. Charter One will oversee market analysis , positioning, revenue, yield and demographic analysis as well as internet marketing initiatives. Cusic accomplishes this by working directly with each property to develop a strategy that will maximize revenue.

Charter One Hotels & Resorts has booked millions of dollars in room nights through internet promotions, vacation packages, pay per click advertising, and by maximizing positioning on sites such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL. Give Q a call (941.364.9224) or email him to get your property energized.

Karen Davis, Corporate Director of Audits & Systems

Karen has more than 20 years experience in accounting experience. Prior to joining Charter One, Ms. Davis was the Controller for the Institute for International Research (IHR) in Sarasota, Florida. Before working for IHR she has worked for several hotel companies including Davidson Hotels, Driftwood Ventures and Radisson. Ms. Davis’s experience assists her in providing accounting support and auditing to all of Charter One Hotels & Resorts properties. Karen is proficient in various Property Management systems including Opera, MSI, as well as multiple accounting programs.

Gary Balliett, Project Manager

Gary graduated with under-graduate and masters degrees from the University of Rochester and has thirty years experience in education. Gary administers the employee training programs and has special skills in employee motivation and orientation. Gary has served as a town councilman in New York and as Police Commissioner.

Sonja D. Marshall, Human Resources   

Sonja has more than ten years of experience in Employee Benefits administration. Prior to joining Charter One, Ms. Marshall was client Relations Partner for Advantec. She has held HR positions with Acclaris, ZFC Enterprises, Aetna Healthcare and Oxford Healthcare. She is a graduate of Eckerd College with a B.A. in Business Management concentrating in Human resources.

Download Our Charter One Hotels & Resorts Company Profile (PDF)

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