WASHINGTON (February 26, 2021) – The American Hotel & Lodging Foundation (AHLA Foundation) today announced a new $5 million, multi-year commitment and action plan
 to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in the hotel and lodging industry.
 
The AHLA Foundation’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously at its October meeting to elevate DE&I as a cornerstone platform under the direction of a newly created DE&I Task Force, comprised of senior leaders throughout the industry. Since then, the Task Force has been meeting to develop a five-year road map to unite the industry around a bold, transparent, and actionable commitment to foster DE&I by identifying and introducing programs to remove structural and behavioral barriers.
   
“The AHLA Foundation Board of Trustees recognized that we can do more to build on our legacy of opening doors of opportunity to all individuals regardless of race, ethnicity or gender, and we believe that this bold, new five-year plan takes us one step closer to reaching that goal,” said Rosanna Maietta, president and CEO of the AHLA Foundation. “This is a monumental example of an industry coming together to advance diversity, equity and inclusion, even at a time when COVID-19 has wiped out 10 years of job growth in the industry.”  

The DE&I Task Force identified the following guiding principles for the new initiative: 

• Diversifying representation at all levels to better serve our guests, associates, and communities.
• Elevating inclusive leadership across corporate entities, properties, franchisees, and supplier networks.
• Driving accountability and transparency to achieve measurable diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DE&I) results.
• Fostering innovative approaches to scale DE&I within the industry. 
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“The hotel and lodging industry is rooted in a spirit of hospitality and welcomes guests and employees of all backgrounds,” said Greg Juceam, president & COO of G6 Hospitality and AHLA Foundation Chair of the Board. “Our vision is to build an industry as diverse as the guests we serve, and this new initiative will build on the industry’s long-standing commitment to promote diversity, equity and inclusion across all levels in our workforce.” 
Over the next five years, the Foundation will focus on three strategic priorities: 1) Driving DE&I at the leadership level, 2) Driving DE&I across all talent levels, and 3) Developing a DE&I blueprint for the industry. 
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This year, the Foundation will launch a new Leadership Academy focused on increasing representation at the executive level, industry resources with sample policies and procedures to increase representation across all levels of the industry, a new mentorship program, and a national ad campaign to attract diverse talent as the hotel industry recovers from COVID-19 and travel resumes. 

In the coming years, the Foundation will build on these initiatives to unveil job resources, executive coaching, and a DE&I knowledge sharing platform.

To learn more about the AHLA Foundation, visit AHLAFoundation.org. 
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About The AHLA Foundation: 
The AHLA Foundation, the charitable giving arm of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, is dedicated to helping people build careers, improve their lives, and strengthen the lodging industry. We are committed to elevating, educating, and empowering individuals and the public on the industry’s story of opportunity and advancement. Since its founding in 1953, the Foundation has distributed over $27 million in support of the industry and is committed to ensuring a strong and viable workforce for the entire lodging industry. The Foundation is funded solely by contributions from generous individuals and companies who want to give back to the hotel industry and ensure a successful future. Learn more at www.ahlafoundation.org. 

Calling all Maryland Hotel Employees!!!

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and UNITE HERE! recently joined together to ask the nation’s governors to prioritize hotel workers for COVID-19 vaccinations. In a letter to the Chair and Co-Chair of the National Governors Association, all 50 Governors and the CDC, AHLA president and CEO Chip Rogers and UNITE HERE! president D. Taylor noted that hotels have been utilized as places to quarantine and house first responders and medical professionals throughout the pandemic, and hotel employees remain on the front lines every day.

Now, we need your help! Please click this link to add your name to a similar letter to tell your Governor to prioritize hotel employees for COVID-19 vaccinations! Lending your name to this letter in your state will help show strength in numbers as we continue to call on Governors across the country to prioritize our industry’s workforce in the vaccine distribution process.

CLICK HERE TO ADD YOUR NAME! 
 
It will only take a minute of your time, but will ensure you are playing your part to make sure our industry’s voice is heard.

Thank you for your support.

The bipartisan Relief Act of 2021 was signed into law on February 15, 2021, and includes more than $1 billion in tax relief and economic stimulus for struggling families and small businesses who are suffering as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A summary of the Relief Act can be found here.

New COVID-19 relief funding will soon be made available for certain Maryland businesses (including hotels – see more below) through the Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority and Fund (also known as Commerce's Advantage Maryland program) and through Commerce's Small, Minority and Women-Owned Business Account.  This website will be updated as details about these Commerce programs become available.
 
The Maryland Office of Tourism is assisting the coordination of funding avenues made newly available in the newly signed Relief Act.   All of the state agencies identified in the Relief Act are working together to develop distribution strategies to be able to distribute emergency funding assistance to stakeholders as quickly as possible.

As passed, the following language applies to Hotel Grants:

$10,000,000 authorized for the Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority to provide funding to local governments for up to $25,000 grants to businesses that:

1. are primarily engaged in activities that, in accordance with the North American Industrial Classification System, would be included in Code 25 721110 (Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels) or Code 721191 (Bed–and–Breakfast Inns); and

2. if a part of a franchise with multiple locations of 28 businesses, are owned by a local franchisee; and

3. can demonstrate a need for assistance.

The Authority shall prioritize providing grants to businesses that have not received prior funding from the Authority.

***Please note, additional details related to this grant have been requested by MHLA; however no further information has been made available at this time.  This Commerce  website will be updated as details become available, and we will post updates as they are received by MHLA.

Additionally, the Office of the Comptroller of Maryland has created a "Maryland RELIEF" page on their website, which may be helpful to share with employees.  It includes a portal to check for information on relief payments, eligibility, videos that explain the process for distributing payments, and other resources.

Comptroller’s RELIEF Webpage: click here
For questions call 1-833-345-0787 or email ReliefAct@marylandtaxes.gov

Maryland counties and the City of Baltimore are listed below, with links containing more information for HOTEL GRANT APPLICATIONS, some of which have opened with an extremely limited window to apply.  Other links are informational only at this time, but may offer an opportunity to sign up for alerts. If information is not shown below, we highly encourage you to search online and/or reach out to your County’s Finance or Economic Development Agency to ensure you do not miss the opportunity to apply.  Counties are required to distribute funds by March 31, 2021.

As previously shared, these hotel grants are a result of the $50M in hotel relief announced by Governor Hogan on December 18, 2020.  MHLA is proud to have secured this relief for hotels and we are thankful to Governor Hogan for providing it.

• Allegany County - Lodging Relief Fund
• Anne Arundel County - Hotel Relief Grant (updated as of 2-5-21)
• Baltimore City - Hotel Grants (updated as of 2-17-21)
• Baltimore County - Hotel Grant Program (updated as of 2-16-21)
• Calvert County - Hospitality Relief Fund Grant (updated as of 2-11-21)
• Carroll County – Hotel/Motel Relief information (updated as of 1-28-21)
• Caroline County - 
• Cecil County - Hotel Relief Grant (updated 1-28-21)
• Charles County -  Hotel Relief Grant (updated 2-3-21)
• Dorchester County - 
• Frederick County - Hospitality and Lodging Grant (updated as of 2-3-21)
• Garrett County -  Hotel Relief Grant
• Harford County -  Hotel Relief Grant
• Howard County - HoCo Rise Business Grant for Hotels (updated 2-5-21)
• Kent County -  Hotel / Accommodations Grant
• Montgomery County – Hotel Relief Grant Program (updated 2-1-21) 
• Prince George’s County - Hotel Resiliency Relief Fund (updated 1-28-21)
• Queen Anne’s County - Hotel Relief Fund information (updated 2-5-21)
• Somerset County -  Economic Relief Funding for Hotels information
• St. Mary’s County -  COVID-19 Hotel Relief Fund
• Talbot County –  Hotel & Motel Relief Fund Grant
• Washington County - Hotel & Lodging Relief Grant
• Wicomico County –  SWED Hotel & Lodging Relief Grant
• Worcester County -  Hotel & Lodging Relief Grant

MHLA will continue to update this list as we receive more information.  In addition to the hotel specific links above, you may wish to click here for other grants being offered in each county.