Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> December 6, 2010
Andrew Sims is the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of MHI Hospitality Corporation. Prior to MHI Hospitality's IPO in 2004, he served as President of MHI Hotels Services, LLC, since 1995, after serving for seven years as Vice President of Finance & Development. During his tenure as Vice President, Mr. Sims was instrumental in the purchase and renovation of several properties that drove the growth of MHI Hotels Services in the 1990s. Among the acquisitions he helped negotiate are the Hilton Wilmington Riverside and the Shell Island Resort in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. Mr. Sims' association with MHI Hospitality continues a family legacy that began with his father, Edgar Sims Jr., who founded Maryland Hospitality Inc. in 1957. Andrew Sims began his career as a Sales Associate for Merrill Lynch Commercial Realty, quickly moving to MHI as General Manager of the company's second hotel, the Interstate Inn, College Park, Md. Mr. Sims managed the $2 million renovation of the property and its reopening under the Best Western International franchise. After five years at the hotel, he was promoted to Regional Manager and oversaw MHI's expansion into Virginia and North Carolina, where the company acquired five new properties. Mr. Sims has expanded on his parents' vast knowledge and experience in the hotel business, utilizing his own expertise to help establish MHI Hospitality Corporation as a real estate investment trust trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange. He graduated from Washington and Lee University with a bachelor's degree in commerce. Mr. Sims served on the franchise advisory board for Hilton Hotels Corporation, and he currently serves as a Director for MHI Hotels Services. He is also involved in the community as a coach for Walsingham Academy. Profile
TWST: The company was started 50 years ago by your late father, Edgar Sims Jr. Please give us a brief history of the company and tell us how his vision for the business informs who and what MHI
