Even after 38 years with the same company, Dennis J. Szefel says he is never bored with his work.
As president of Buffalo, N.Y.-based Delaware North Cos.’ Hospitality group, Szefel oversees a division that handles operations at such eclectic locations as the Kennedy Space Center, Yosemite National Park, the Grand Canyon, many airport concessions, and such sports and entertainment venues as Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom. Recently, the division entered an agreement to share management of The Plaza Hotel’s ballroom in New York.
Szefel, who once taught at a high school in Buffalo, N.Y., says today he can’t imagine doing anything but what he’s doing.
Why did you leave teaching to join Delaware North?
I realized I needed more money. It was right when I graduated from college. I had started teaching at the local Catholic high school. It was great, but as the family came along I just didn’t get paid very much, so I started working part time for Sportservice. I left teaching after about three years and came over here full time. I literally worked in every part of the business, in parks and resorts, sports, overseas, at airports.
AT A GLANCE Title: president, hospitality group, Delaware North Cos. Inc. Birth date: June 26, 1946 Hometown: Buffalo, N.Y. Education: bachelor’s degree, Canisius College, Buffalo, N.Y. Career highlights: being employed with Delaware North for almost 38 years; receiving the company’s 2004 Chairman’s Award; being involved in fund-raising for Buffalo’s Roswell Park Cancer Institute
What makes a great leader?
You have to know what you’re talking about and have to have a pretty good grounding in the business you’re in. More importantly, you have to convince your people to go in the direction you want rather than drag or push them. But most importantly, they have to buy into what you’re trying to do and feel a part of it. That is the way you get a much more enthusiastic and meaningful team. Plus, a little bit of humor never hurts. The other thing is to be able to put business things in the perspective of where they belong. Very little of what we do is of life and death importance.
After more than 30 years in the industry, what keeps business interesting?
This is a great place. I’ve had chances, and I say this to younger folks particularly, that they probably would not experience anywhere else to meet as many people or go to as many interesting, fascinating places as I have and do some pretty interesting business deals like I’ve done here. I’ve had the opportunity to go to dinner with men who have walked on the moon. I once watched two astronauts argue about [the viability of] commercial trips to the moon. I would never have had an opportunity to do these things if I worked for another company. I’ve never had any shortage of incentive to get up and go to work every day.
What would you say are the biggest issues currently affecting the industry?
Certainly from a food aspect, there are constantly evolving issues in terms of nutrition—[serving] organic foods, the removal of trans fat, et cetera—all the things that make people more conscious of what they are eating. In terms of our employees, health care issues are extremely important. The cost of providing health care-related benefits is continuing to rocket up. Also, there is a different kind of workforce today. It’s a lot tougher getting people to transfer and relocate for different positions that maybe they would have jumped at 25 years ago. There’s much more of a balance in terms of work-life considerations.
Where do you see possibilities for business growth?
We’re seeing a real increase in the number of people traveling now, and that has had a positive effect on our national and state park concessions as well as our airport and hotel operations. In terms of our sports and entertainment business, we’ve had a very strong two years in a row of business at our Sportservice division.
What are the big challenges in airport foodservice?
We’ve done airport concessions for 65 years and have been a large competitor in the business. But in the last couple of years we lost a bit of our external business. Nick Biello [the division’s former president and current chief operating officer] is a terrific operator, and he is going to concentrate his efforts on refining our operating platform and our Guest Path service program. We are looking for a new president for the airport division, one who can focus his or her energy on repositioning us in the airport business and is absolutely committed to it. Quite frankly, we don’t like [the fact that] our position has eroded somewhat over the years. The person we’re seeking will re-establish our growth pattern both domestically and internationally. And in terms of what we have to do in our airport business, it’s no secret that brands are really critical, as is menu selection and food awareness.
We have some great companies we do business with right now, but we think we can broaden that and also spend some time looking for the next new “one.”
I don’t know what it is yet, but what we have found is a delicate balance in regard to nationally recognized as well as strong regional brands.
Has the company recovered from the losses it experienced as a result of Hurricane Katrina?
Our New Orleans operations are back on their feet, but they’re not anywhere near pre-hurricane levels. It’s getting there, but there are an awful lot of people who haven’t come back, so getting employees is a challenge. We owned the Delta Steamboat Co., which was acquired in 2002 out of bankruptcy and was headed back to better business. But then the hurricane hit and we lost our office, the docks and were faced with the decision of whether to rebuild and start over again. We thought it best to sell the company, so we got out of the business a year ago.
Since the hurricane, insurance rates have gone up dearly. We still have business in hurricane zones, and we think we’re probably looking at increases in premiums of 15 [percent] to 20 percent.
What is the most exciting new project Delaware North is taking on?
The Plaza Hotel. It was acquired by the Elad Group a couple of years ago and is being turned into a combination of privately owned, extremely high-end condominiums and a hotel managed by Paramount. Adjoining it is this famous ballroom where some of the most elegant events happen. Delaware North will manage that in partnership with [New York City-based operator] Great Performances. We’re putting about $13 million into the restoration of the ballroom and expect to be ready by Oct. 1, the 100th anniversary of the hotel.