Duluth native comes home to manage hotel

Gerry Goldfarb, a Duluth native with 19 years of hospitality leadership experience, is returning to his hometown as the new General Manager of the Holiday Inn & Suites.

For the past eight years, Goldfarb had been with the North Central Group — a Middleton, Wis.-based developer, owner and operator of more than 25 hotels — most recently as a regional general manager. Prior to that he had served in general manager roles at the Hampton Inn-Eagan, Park Inn & Suites by Carlson in Shakopee, Marriott Towne Place Suites in Eden Prairie and the Days Inn-Burnsville.

Goldfarb replaces Lisa Augustine, who recently departed after eight years as the Holiday Inn & Suites’ general manager to accept a position as regional director of operations for Chesapeake Hospitality, outside of Washington, D.C.

“We conducted a nationwide search to find an excellent, new general manager for the Holiday Inn & Suites, and we feel fortunate to have someone with Gerry’s experience and leadership joining our hotel team,” said Mark Emmel, president and chief operating officer of Duluth-based Lion Hotel Group, which owns the Holiday Inn & Suites.

Goldfarb is a 1986 graduate of Duluth East High School and has a Bachelor of Arts in accounting from the College of St. Scholastica. His first day as Holiday Inn & Suites general manager was Monday, to coincide with a $4 million renovation that’s about to begin at the hotel. With 345 guest rooms and suites, the Holiday Inn & Suites is Duluth’s largest convention center hotel.

Tags: news, business, travel