May 12, 2000 Lancaster (Manheim Township), PA The Hilton Garden Inn Lancaster, situated in Manheim Township's prestigious Granite Run Corporate Center, celebrates a very special milestone this Monday, May 15, its tenth anniversary. The anniversary celebration marks a new era for the Hilton Garden Inn Lancaster. Loyal customers and community members who attend the celebration will get a special treat--elegant floral and food flourishes created by the culinary students of Lancaster County Career and Technology Center in Mount Joy.

Affording the opportunity for students to share in the excitement of preparing for and serving during this significant event is emblematic of the Hilton Garden Inn's commitment to school-to-work initiatives. Recognizing the dire need businesses have today for preparing our workforce and later recruiting it, the hotel wants to send a strong message to guests and other hospitality professionals to excite and entice young people into the service fields. Cheryl Deaven, Horst Property Management's director of sales and marketing for the Inn, says that she "is proud that the Hilton Garden Inn Lancaster is so progressive in recognizing that partnerships with schools and programs are crucial in preparing our future employees."
LCCTC director of culinary services, Morris Lapi, cannot veil his enthusiasm for his students participating in events such as the Hilton's anniversary garden party event. He says, "Our 84 senior culinary students can learn the theory and practice in laboratory settings, but it is when they transfer that education to the real world of work that true understanding and professionalism occurs. When a student plans and prepares for an event, and then actually sees the end result, guests' reactions, we know the school has done a thorough job in preparing our workforce." Lapi says that the students are not strangers to real-world service as they serve lunch daily to 80 to 100 guests at the Mount Joy School (located at 432 Market Street) and have worked for many prominent organizations (including the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, PA Association of Manufacturing, Lancaster County Association for Human Resources, to name just a few), serving up to 1000 people at a time.

For the Hilton Garden Inn celebration, LCCTC has created an elegant menu, is designing an "upscale" birthday cake and will carve an ice sculpture of a basket overflowing with garden flowers to reinforce the event's floral theme. The food and floral elements designed by the school will be complemented by light jazz and contemporary music performed by Jack Frank and the Majors, providing a lovely atmosphere to surround hotel tours, camaraderie and the cake-cutting ceremony. Guests will each receive a flower as a "thank you" for helping to make the Hilton Garden Inn Lancaster grow.

Director of operations for Horst Property Management's hospitality division Steven Bretherick, is uniquely qualified to share his excitement about the event. As former general manager of the Hilton Garden Inn Lancaster and chair of the culinary arts occupational advisory committee for LCCTC, Bretherick is eager to celebrate both the hotel's and students' successes. He says, "I have seen first-hand the challenges of recruiting employees who believe in service excellence, and we are so pleased that LCCTC is one strong link for us to continue adding to our already high-quality staff." Evidence of this burgeoning relationship has already occurred: Jeff Gehman, Hilton's Clyde's Café restaurant manager, hired and is training a graduate of LCCTC to work for the restaurant.

The Hilton Garden Inn Lancaster plans to continue its active involvement in preparing young people for the workforce. Working with organizations such as Goodwill Industries, Junior Achievement and the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce to promote employment initiatives and opportunities will remain a priority for the hotel over the next decade.

Some history of the Hilton Garden Inn Lancaster: The156-room Inn opened May 14, 1990, with John Sanderson, vice president of Horst Property Management's hospitality division (then called Clabell Management) leading the effort. Sanderson, a Hilton-trained veteran, has been responsible for inspiring the dedicated Hilton staff, many of whom have stayed with the hotel since its opening (such as Cheryl Deaven and Michelle Gehman, general manager), to receiving the Hilton Pride Award for Customer Service and being recognized for our consistently high standards by Hilton Inns Inc.
Sanderson reflects, "Although there have been many positive changes throughout the past ten years, the recent renovations (skillfully managed by Patrick Murnane, director of maintenance, and Nancy Gehman, director of housekeeping) reinforce the owners' and Hilton's commitment to being a first-class destination for business and tourist travelers. We have refurbished rooms with stylish new furniture, microwaves and refrigerators, oversized work desks with ergonomically designed chairs and two double-line telephones with data port, speakerphone and voice-mail features for our business guests to use. We have also added a business center and 24-hour Pavilion Pantryä to our lobby. As the first recipient of the Hilton Pride Innovation Award, our team is motivated to set the precedence for service, convenience and comfort, not follow them…"

While the picturesque Hilton hotel turns ten years old, old age has not crept in by any means, as Hilton introduced a revitalized branding campaign for the Garden Inn in 1999 and completed its million dollar upgrade and renovation in March. Revered as the first property to tout the Hilton Garden Inn name (which was introduced in 1992), the Hilton Garden Inn Lancaster has and will set the standard for others to follow. The team is proud to continue being innovative by offering the best service and value, and is honored to enjoy the support of the community and exceptional customers that has enabled its success to date.

Thirty-year-old Horst Property Management (HPM) includes the hospitality arm, which manages the Hilton Garden Inn Lancaster, provides management and consulting services for several hotel flags. HPM also offers commercial, residential, association and senior care development, management and janitorial services as a part of the Horst Group's family of diversified construction, property management and insurance companies (Horst Construction, Horst Excavating, Horst Masonry, Horst Painting, Horst Property Management, Horst Insurance and Horst Financial Services), serving the mid-Atlantic region. Situated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania's Granite Run Corporate Center, the Horst Group has a tradition of service dating back to 1880. To contact the Horst Group, call (717) 581-9800.

For more information about LCCTC, please call Morris Lapi at 717 653-3008.

For more information regarding this release, please contact Karen Haski, communications manager, Horst Group, call (717) 581-9817 or email to khaski@horstgroup.com.