Ohio native Kristina Schreck was named director of catering at Kimpton Solamar Hotel, in San Diego. Schreck has held the roles of senior catering sales executive at Coronado Island Marriott Resort and Spa in California and convention services manager at San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter.
Jorah Anderson
Miraval Group appointed Jorah Anderson director of sales. Anderson served as director of sales at Travaasa Experiential Resorts. She brings to her new role more than 17 years of sales experience in the hospitality industry.
Marshall Hilliard
Marshall Hilliard was appointed director of sales and marketing at Hilton New Orleans Riverside. Hilliard will be responsible for the planning and implementation of sales strategies to maximize hotel revenue and occupancy.
Gergely Seregi
The Kitchen and The Kitchen Counter by Wolfgang Puck, located within Amway Grand Plaza, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, named Gergely Seregi as executive chef. Seregi served in the kitchens at several of Nobu’s international outlets.
Devin Mahoney
Kimpton Solamar Hotel, in San Diego, appointed Devin Mahoney general manager. Mahoney was general manager at Kimpton Amara Resort and Spa in Sedona, Arizona.
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All three properties occupy unique niches in the event landscape. Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort offers oceanside meetings with 70,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor meeting space, including an oceanfront lawn and 301 luxury guest rooms. Grand Hyatt San Francisco offers 662 modern guest rooms with enhanced in-room entertainment technology and six event rooms—30,000 sq. ft. of total meeting space; it boasts panoramic bay views and is in walking distance of Moscone Center. Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Springs, Florida, features 454 guest rooms on 26 acres overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. The property’s 82,500 sq. ft. of meeting space was recently renovated and includes an outdoor courtyard.
Hosts Hotels CEO James Risoleo called the properties “exactly the type of iconic real-estate we target…located in what we believe are some of the best near-term growth markets in the U.S.”
Hyatt will continue to operate the hotels. Host owns 93 luxury and upper-upscale hotels. Ten are Hyatt-managed properties.
It will come as news to few that Ireland, the Emerald Isle, is a beautiful place to set foot. It may, however, surprise many to learn that Ireland is also a food lover’s paradise. With something to satisfy even the most discerning of palates, our picks for luxury hotel dining on the Emerald Isle are sure to inspire your next event.
The Shelbourne, Dublin
Located at 27 St. Stephen’s Green, The Shelbourne is a landmark in the heart of Dublin city. Private dining at The Shelbourne is a decadent affair, with packages including five-course menus, luxury flatware, the finest Irish linens, Royal Doulton china designed by Vera Wang and floral arrangements created by the hotel’s in-house florist. Executive chef, Garry Hughes, whose diners have included Michelle Obama, Bruce Springsteen and Bono, sources the finest local ingredients to create the ultimate Irish dining experience at this two AA-Rosette-awarded hotel. Locally sourced dishes include roast fillet of 32-day-aged Charleville beef, and mille feuille of creamed Lusk leeks, asparagus tips & chervil and tomato butter sauce. The Shelbourne has ten event rooms, the largest of which will accommodate a group of 450 guests.
The K Club, Kildare
Built in 1832, the five-star K Club boasts 18 meeting and conference rooms, the largest of which is the newly renovated Inis Mor. In all, The K Club’s meeting and function spaces can accommodate between five and 500 guests, thereby catering to both the smaller and larger crowd. The hotel sources its ingredients locally, and its menus are traditional Irish fare with a modern twist. Think Atlantic mackerel with Dingle Gin watermelon, avocado puree, chilled cucumber gazpacho and toasted almonds.
Hayfield Manor, Cork
Farther south, another five-star pick, Hayfield Manor is nestled within walled gardens in Cork city. Hayfield Manor is a boutique luxury hotel, offering private dining for groups of between ten and 120 people. Enjoy an aperitif in the garden, before relocating to one of the hotel’s private dining rooms for a tailor-made menu, paired with wine selected by the in-house Sommelier. The hotel’s farm-to-table philosophy is reflected in their seasonal, sustainable, ocean friendly menus, featuring Midleton lamb rack and shoulder, with courgette, roasted garlic, goat’s cheese mash and mint gel, and, to follow, Irish berries, with vanilla white chocolate bavarois, pecan soil and lemon sorbet.
No. 1 Pery Square, Limerick
A Georgian townhouse overlooking The People’s Park, No. 1 Pery Square is a boutique hotel in Limerick city. A 20-minute jaunt from Shannon international airport, the hotel offers organic and wholesome fare, ranging from home-baked butter shortbread and seasonal herbal teas from their kitchen garden, to five-course menus. The Board Room at No. 1 is the perfect space for a formal gathering, while The Wine Room will accommodate a smaller, more intimate group.
The G Hotel, Galway
Our final pick takes us to the G Hotel on the west coast of Ireland. Designed by the internationally acclaimed milliner, Philip Treacy, The G Hotel in Galway city offers six occasion suites, including The Boardroom and The Event Suite, and can accommodate up to 300 guests. A visit to The G is the perfect excuse to sample their excellent Afternoon Tea–a selection of hand crafted pastries, scones, sweet treats and savory bites, served with tea and coffee.
Getting to the airport on time is always nerve-racking, and anyone who has missed a flight knows well what a nightmare it can be. But if you can stay calm and follow these steps, it can end up being A-OK after all.
Are You Cutting It Close?
First thing, contact the airline. The sooner you let them know you aren’t going to make it, the better your chances of getting on the next available flight. Next, don’t give up. Checking in online in advance and traveling light can still help you if your gate stays open a bit longer. So can having expedited security-line clearance such as TSA PreCheck or Clear. If you arrive late and your gate has closed, check the flight schedule board immediately for later flights on the same airline. The more information you know, the easier it is for airline employees to accommodate you.
No Refund, No Problem: Avoid Expensive Fees
Check the terms of your ticket, as there may be a “flat tire rule.” Meaning, if you are going to miss your flight due to an unforeseen delay beyond your control, such as a flat tire, you may be put on standby for the next flight. Some airlines have an unwritten rule that you can pay a cheaper standby fee rather than an expensive change fee. However, whether you get this break is usually at the discretion of the airport agent. Not every airline does this, but politely ask about it. Here’s a list of some major airlines’ policies.
Avoid Getting Stranded
Don’t rush to book a new one-way ticket. It may seem an easier and sometimes cheaper, option to just start from scratch again. But, when you cancel one leg of your itinerary, the whole thing might cancel, leaving you stuck. So, check to see if that is the case, and if returning flights are cheap, before jumping ship. Be careful though— missing your flight without alerting the airline might result in loosing reward points and being charged a hefty fine.
Communicate with the Hotel and Baggage Company
A simple heads-up to the front desk explaining the situation can go a long way. If you let them know early enough about your new arrival time, you can often save on cancellation fees and prevent the hotel from giving your room away. If you are using a baggage delivery service outside your airline, check the cancellation or change fee and policies before you book and your bags are picked up. For example BAGS VIP needs 24-hour’s notice for a full refund, Luggage Forward needs at least a three-business-day notice for a full refund, while Luggage Free just needs to be notified before the bags are picked.
Reach out to Your Insurance Agent
Lastly, check your travel insurance policy, if you have arranged this coverage. In some cases, policies can give you a partial or even a full refund depending on the details of your missed flight and if you have cancellation coverage. Normally, insurance companies accept only certain reasons. A few of these are injury or illness, a natural disaster, theft of passport and mandatory evacuation at destination.
What keeps event planners up at night? What’s working and what’s not? Eventbrite offers answers in its annual report on trends in the event industry. One thousand event professionals in the United States and Canada were surveyed on a wide range of topics, including budgets, marketing strategies and technology. Here’s a snapshot.
Who Took the Survey?
Forty-four percent identified as a CEO, founder, director or equivalent position. Eighty-three percent are charged with setting up ticketing or registration, and 82 percent are involved in promoting events.
Forty-five percent of survey takers had teams of two to five, while 28 percent said they ran the entire operation. Those with 10 or more employees comprised only 12 percent.
More than half expected their current team to remain the same size throughout this year, while 38 percent expected their team to grow.
Which Strategies Work and Which Don’t
Email marketing was considered the most effective and most-used tactic, with 86 percent of survey takers noting that they include email marketing in their strategies; 41 percent said electronic outreach was “moderately to extremely effective” in their marketing campaigns. Seventy-eight percent said they would continue using email marketing in 2018.
On the other end of the spectrum, webinars were considered the least effective promotional tool, especially for smaller businesses trying to reach a wider audience. Tools that could take their place included experiential marketing, influencer marketing and content marketing—95 percent of companies using these methods considered the tactics effective.
Social Media Superstars
Social media tactics were tremendously important in 2017, and that doesn’t appear to be changing in 2018. Facebook was considered the most popular platform to reach a desired audience, with 57 percent using paid ads.
When it comes to reaching and engaging with online followers, 96 percent of event planners said social media content was the best choice, with nearly half stating that they were “very or extremely effective.” Added incentives are one of the easiest ways to boost response from your audience.
Where the Money Goes
Forty-three percent reported that most of their budget goes to marketing and promotion. Locking down speakers and talent was the next top expense, at 32 percent. Printed materials come in third, at 29 percent—despite the popularity of electronic media, handouts and mail are still prevalent.
Top Challenges of 2018
In 2017, 91 percent reported that insufficient budget was the top stressor; 72 percent of event planners had an annual budget of less than $30,000. Other sources of stress included reaching new attendees and securing sponsors, at 86 percent and 83 percent, respectively.
This year, 89 percent said reaching new attendees is becoming the top stressor, especially with budget constraints, tying with securing speakers and talent.
Smack-dab in the middle of the country lies Iowa. Unless you live there, you probably don’t think very much about the Hawkeye state. In fact, you probably view it as more of an area to pass through or over while traveling to a destination. Iowa offers a whole lot more than just cornfields and tractors, though. It was crowned No.1 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 Best State Rankings today.
Based on 77 measures across eight categories, Iowa was top in the nation for its stellar infrastructure, health care, opportunity and education. This is the second year of the report, and last year Iowa came in sixth overall. The rankings were created using McKinsey & Company’s Leading State Index, which is comprised of two years of data from an annual survey involving more than 30,000 people per state.
Here are Iowa’s rankings in the eight categories:
Infrastructure: first
Health care: third
Opportunity: fourth
Education: fifth
Quality of life: ninth
Crime: 15th
Economy: 17th
Fiscal stability: 21st
Now that you know the rankings, it’s time to get familiar with the state’s character. Here are a few highlights about this under-publicized gem.
Literary Geeks Welcomed
Iowa has a surprising amount of resources for writers and book lovers. The Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa is hugely famous. It’s why Iowa City is designated as a UNESCO City of Literature. The bookstore scene is also off the charts. Prairie Lights bookstore is always full of brand new releases, along with lesser-known treasures. Many events and author readings from the works of legendary figures such as Carl Sandburg, Langston Hughes and ee cummings happen here.
Iowa City is home to the famous Literary Walk on Iowa Avenue. The attraction features several blocks of bronze panels inscribed with the words and works of 49 Iowa-associated authors. Iowa City also hosts its annual Book Festival each fall. This year it will be held on October 1–7.
The Natural Beauty is Calling
When you envision Iowa, endless cornfields probably come to mind. Sure, that’s beautiful, and a reality in the state, but it also houses a rich diversity of natural terrain. Also, contrary to what many believe, there are rolling hills, rivers and lakes—providing plenty of outdoor activity options. In Iowa City alone, there are 41 stunning public parks. Whether it’s the cities, prairies or woods, you’ll reach something new and striking within a short drive.
The Magnificent Iowa State Fair
Largely regarded as the best fair in the county, and recognized as the largest event in Iowa, the Iowa State Fair is a very special occasion. More than 1 million people travel from places near and far to reach Des Moines, where they celebrate agriculture, entertainment and Midwest culture in general. The decadent foods, classic rides, iconic farm activities and remarkable vendors make it a must. Oh, and did we mention the butter statues? They’re an Iowa State Fair tradition.
Indulge in Local Eats
Although you might not be familiar with the franchise, ask anyone in Iowa about Maid-Rite and you’ll get an ear-full. The chain started in Iowa and is known for its “loose hamburger,” which, to be clear, is not a sloppy joe. If that’s not indulgent enough, there’s also bacon galore—enough to annually host The Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival. The demand for the crispy meat is why Iowa is the No. 1 hog-producing state in the county, with pigs outnumbering people, 3-1.
Iowa isn’t only for the meat-eaters. There is also an abundance of farmer’s markets. The Des Moines Farmers Market is particularly well-known for its farm-to-table eats and healthy ingredients. Sticking to a local diet is easy with the freshest apples, strawberries, corn, herbs, watermelon, and other fruits and vegetables. Farmers sell their corn on the side of the road throughout the state. Not only is this a viable way to get your kernels—it’s encouraged.
Although it’s cold outside, summer is right around the corner. When considering ways to treat employees with incentive trips or improve team building, look to the ocean for your answer.
Most people have never surfed and probably never will, but the following resorts on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts have everything you need to ride the waves. From board rentals to lessons and ocean view rooms, make your next meeting a radical one— just cross your fingers that there will be waves. Pack your swimsuit and flip-flops, because we are hitting the beach. Don’t forget the sunscreen!
The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, California
The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel looks over famous Salt Creek Beach. At first, The Ritz thought the waves just belong only to hippie surfers. It built a wall and faced its lawn chairs the other way.
But then the hotel realized the importance of embracing the waves and all the beauty they bring. So, it tore down the wall and turned the lawn chairs toward the setting sun. Since the beach is in the backyard, guests can hit the surf or relax on the sand, just steps away from their room.
The Ritz offers lessons, board rentals and surf camps. It has 396 rooms and more than 80,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor event space, including ballrooms, meeting rooms and beachfront venues.
Vintage Surfari Wagons, Costa Mesa, California
You can drive down Highway 101 in style with Vintage Surfari Wagons’ camp mobiles. The Beach Boys would be proud. Just make sure you are comfortable with the person in shotgun, because the sleeping quarters are a bit tight—with one bed in the backseat. This Southern California company offers 1970s VW vans for rent to take up and down the coast, chasing that perfect wave.
There are private rentals, as well as tours down some of California’s less-traveled roads. Depending on the group, this could be an unconventional, once-in-a-lifetime, experience. It’s also a fantastic tourist attraction for attendees to take part in before or after an event. Each bus can fit up to four people, depending on sleeping preferences, and is fully loaded with camping equipment.
La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, California
San Diego has world-class beaches that are always pumping out waves, and nearby La Jolla Shores is a surf learner’s headquarters. La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club is directly on the sand, on a private beach with cabanas that offer food and drink service.
It’s down the street from all the ocean-toy rentals, including kayaks, paddleboards, surfboards and scuba diving equipment. Plus, it’s right in front of the area where harmless leopard sharks come during mating season in the summer, and can accompany guests during snorkeling excursions.
The club has 90 regular rooms, suites and beach apartments, and two indoor event centers that can hold up to 150 people, as well as a poolside patio and an entire beach.
Four Seasons Resort, The Biltmore, Santa Barbara, California
The harbor city of Santa Barbara sits just an hour north of Los Angeles. The Biltmore is tucked away off Highway 101, next to Butterfly Beach. The surf doesn’t get very big out front, but just down the road is Rincon, nicknamed Queen of California for being one of the best right-hand point breaks in the state.
Guests can pay to have three-time world champion surfer Tom Curren pick them up and drive around Santa Barbara, looking for waves.
The Surfrider Malibu, California
Located across the street of one of the most famous beaches in the world, The Surfrider Malibu is the perfect laid-back spot to hang for the weekend as you try to dodge the Los Angeles traffic. The waves across the street are appealing to all surfers, from beginners to professionals.
Although Malibu is usually crowded, there are always plenty of waves to be ridden
The Surf Lodge, Montauk, New York
New York has some waves, and they can be good. Montauk, in particular, is home to some nice, friendly longboard waves. One standout spot is The Surf Lodge, a beach hotel with a Manhattan bottle-service feel. Reopened in 2012 by New York City nightlife impresario Jayma Cardoso, The Surf Lodge is a popular spot on summer nights. Bands play on the back deck on weekends and there is an Australian-themed restaurant. This place is ideal for the surfer who wants to surf all day and party all night. Bike and board rentals are available to guests. It’s perfect for a smaller getaway type of meeting, with its 20 rooms and small private dining room, and the entire 1.5-acre property can be used for an event.
Surf Studio Beach Resort, Cocoa Beach, Florida
Home to arguably the greatest surfer of all time, Kelly Slater, Cocoa Beach is deeply rooted in surf culture, and the water is plenty warm. Surf Studio Beach Resort is a very popular getaway for surfers. Located right on the water, this family owned resort has a relaxed vibe that is perfect for unwinding. It offers board rentals for its guests, as well.
SXSW Conference and Festivals is an event-planning wonder, considering its success and steady growth since 1987, when only 700 people registered. Now, almost a half-million people participate, and they are scattered throughout Austin, Texas, for 10 days in March.
In 2017, SWSW had a groundbreaking economic impact of $348.6 million. Executive Director Mike Shea, who has been behind planning the event for the last 29 years, discussed how he keeps running it so flawlessly year after year.
Cross Your T’s and Dot Your I’s
With so much happening at once, in many different areas, one challenge is to decide what to focus on. According to Shea, it’s all about the details. “If you don’t keep all the details under control, they turn into a mistake, and then a mistake turns into a problem,” he says.
A Good Team Always Has Your Back
With a staff of 200 and many eager volunteers, Shea depends heavily on the support of his co-workers to make sure everything goes according to plans.
SXSW is known for conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film and music industries. However, as SWSW has grown each year, it has become an essential destination for global professionals, featuring sessions, showcases, screenings, exhibitions and a variety of networking opportunities. Attendees get to explore what’s next in the worlds of film, culture, music and technology—with opportunities for networking and learning—in one unified conference that includes 24 tracks (or topics), plus the SXSW Eco curated Cities Summit.
Plan Ahead, but Be Easy
Prioritizing in advance is huge for Shea and his team. It allows them to keep track of what needs to be done before opening day. Once the festival has started, Shea and his team meet every morning to go over the day’s resume (what he calls “Bible study”).
“It’s basically a run-of-show,” he says. “I guess, in a phrase, what we do every morning is set the stage, know what our marching orders are for the day, where we need to be and what is the most important thing to do.”
“There are always going to be some things that you never get around to fully buttoning down, so they might turn into surprises on site,” he says. “I encourage my staff to bend, but not to break. If something goes wrong, and you let the situation overwhelm you rather than dealing with it and addressing it yourself, then you are going to break.”
The conference has 13 keynote speakers and several featured speakers within each track. There is a separate gaming conference and a comedy festival. Last year, almost 7,000 different events were featured, as well as hundreds of after-parties and performances each night around the city. All ran smoothly.
If It Ain’t Broke, Look for Improvements
After three decades, Shea recognizes what does and doesn’t work. “Whenever possible, we like to wash, rinse and repeat,” he says. “So, we aren’t inventing new things every year.”
Each year, something need to be improved, though. This year, Shea and his team’s focus is “to address attendee access, especially in the conference areas.” When there is a popular speaker or event, such as in 2016, when then-President Barack Obama gave a keynote speech, not everyone can gain admission. Lines become long, and people might spend an hour waiting in line for a session they ultimately can’t get into.
This year, SXSW is trying to avoid that by using electronic status boards to inform people about availability at each session. The boards are color coded, with red meaning full, yellow indicating filling up quickly and green signifying there is plenty of room left.
“Basically, in every one of our major conference rooms, we will have someone reporting the crowd size,” Shea says. They will indicate whether the room is full, there’s some room available or there’s plenty of room left. That information will be conveyed on the status boards located all around the conference, and will be available on the SXSW GO app.
SXSW GO is the official mobile app of the festival, which allows attendees to browse each day’s lineup, see where sessions are being held, and create their own personal schedule.
For the Love of the Game
Shea has been planning the event for almost 30 years, and doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon. It’s rewarding each year, but it’s a reward that can’t been seen or held—but rather, felt.
“At the end of the day, you look at what happened and you think, ‘I was part of building of that,’” he says. “There were tens of thousands of people who came here and had an amazing experience. They found a collaborator or a job, or might have just discovered a great new band, or might have been inspired by a keynote speaker. Just knowing that you were part of something that is potentially life-changing for tens of thousands of people is a huge reward right there.”
SXSW will be held March 9–18, and tickets are available online.
Menu selection can be one of the most inspired, and fraught, decisions you make when planning an event. Unfortunately, the decision too often ends up being a safe dish that everyone will eat, but no one will talk about.
Culinary planners at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games are not keeping it safe—in a good way. Early reports show they are exceeding expectations when it comes to the cuisine offered to nearly 8,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and officials in PyeongChang, providing a global menu that unifies tastes across the board in a shared experience.
When the world’s elite athletes gather to compete in 102 events in 15 different disciplines, the culinary options ought to be up to par as well. After all, the Olympics are about more than competing. The worldwide occasion also embodies how countries can come together. What better way to solidify bonds than through food? In one month, almost five million meals are being served at 13 competition venues.
Those figures may sound overwhelming, but planners from the Olympic Committee in PyeongChang prepared by compiling an 18-page menu at the athlete dining halls featuring 180 chefs, including 30 halal cooks and a selection of cuisines from around the globe with meals offered 24 hours a day.
This year’s games have brought out well-known chefs to indulge in fine cuisine–from Los Angeles based David Chang to San Francisco’s Deuki Hong and Food Network’s Judy Joo.
More Countries, More Choices
Food is dished out at one of five themed buffets: Italian, Asian, World, Korean and Halal. A salad bar features a large array of fruits and vegetables prepared in many ways, including 13 types of whole, cut and dried fruits, as well as around 20 fresh, steamed, cut, blanched, sautéed, seasoned or grilled vegetables. Team members can choose from nine different varieties of bread, six kinds of eggs, as well as pizza and pasta stations. Calorie-burning athletes also have seven types of cheese options. In fact, even the porridge menu has multiple options with pumpkin, beef, mussel and congee.
At the winter Olympics, staying warm is a high priority. Soup helps and like everything else, diners have a lot of choices. The variety of delectable soups includes: miso, crab meat, lentil, spinach bean paste, seaweed and Ox (both knee and bone), dried pollack and bean curd with fish balls
Here Come the Entrees
Some of the world-class entrees include grilled halibut, smoked turkey breast, grilled sea bass, smoked duck breast, grilled salmon, grilled chicken thighs and grilled tilapia, as well as gimbap, kimchi (white, water, cucumber, radish water and dished radish), japchae, Korean barbeque and a bibimbap station.
The Korean barbeque station has been much more popular than expected, with athletes coming back for seconds and thirds. Outside observers fear not—consumers of these tasty meals are not hesitant to post a picture of it in-between bites.
Bring It Home
Planners looking to this healthy international table can take inspiration for their next meeting. Think globally when it comes to catering. A new food experience brings people together and has a lasting impression. Don’t be afraid to mix it up, theme your menu with a region, and offer a more diverse choice. Your attendees won’t forget it.
Marriott International is the talk again. The hospitality giant announced two new hotels are coming to Las Vegas, as well as its intention of depositing tax savings into employees retirement accounts.
New JW Marriott and Edition to Tower over The Strip by 2020
Marriott says it will open The Drew Las Vegas, which will house The Strip’s first JW Marriott and the Las Vegas debut of its high-end Edition brand, in 2020. The Drew will offer more than 4,000 guest rooms and 500,000 sq. ft. of meeting and event space. It will feature 20 restaurants and a skybridge to the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The property will occupy the unfinished Fontainebleau tower near Circus Circus Las Vegas, a 68-story, blue-glass skyscraper that is the second-highest building in Nevada, after the nearby Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower.
Tony Capuano, Marriott executive vice president and global chief development officer, said in a statement, “Las Vegas is obviously an extraordinary market, principally driven by leisure transients and group business, and when you look at the facilities program for the complex, it is uniquely positioned to take advantage of both of those strong demand sectors.”
Marriott To Put Tax Savings Into Employees’ Pockets
With the passage of last year’s federal income-tax reform, Marriott’s effective tax rate was lowered 8 percentage points, to 22 percent—resulting in a $200 million benediction, according to Leeny Oberg, chief financial officer for Marriott. The company said will put $140 million of this windfall into retirement savings and other employee programs.
The company will offer a one-time, $5-to$1 match of up to $1,000. The vast majority of participating associates should receive this incremental company contribution, said a company press release.
