High companies announce three additions to senior leadership team
The High companies today announced three important additions to its senior leadership team: Russ Urban as president of High Hotels Ltd.; Kathy Prime as chief learning and talent development officer; and Sanjay Guglani as chief strategy officer.
“Our top priority,” said CEO Mike Shirk, “is to further strengthen our organizational capacity and talent development across our businesses, enabling us to tackle new challenges and capitalize on many exciting opportunities ahead of us.”
“Russ, Kathy, and Sanjay are talented and proven leaders who each bring a strong mix of unique skills and breadth of experience to their new roles,” Shirk said. “They provide important capabilities aligned with our strategic priorities and will be a great fit with our culture”
These new hires are one key element of a broader strategic focus on developing High’s workforce for the future. Investment is happening at all levels and includes new programs designed to further build internal capabilities. High has added about 200 full-time positions since the beginning of 2014, about half located in Lancaster, and plans to add 100 more during 2016.
New members of senior leadership team:
Russ Urban joins High as president of High Hotels Ltd. Effective November 16. Urban will lead the existing portfolio of hotels and accelerate growth in this important business area. High Hotels currently owns and operates 13 hotels and just last month broke ground on a new hotel in Mount Laurel, NJ. Several additional hotels are in the planning phase.
Urban joins High from Destination Hotels in Englewood, Colorado, where he served as executive vice president, business development and acquisitions. Prior to Destination, he served as principal and senior vice president at HEI Hotels and Resorts in Norwalk, Connecticut, and previously held positions at Marriott Corporation and other hotel management companies. Urban has extensive experience as an owner, operator, and developer of Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood branded hotels.
Urban earned his bachelor of science degree in hotel administration from Cornell University and is an active member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association and Urban Land Institute.
Kathy Prime joined High in October in the newly created position of chief learning and talent development officer. Prime will be responsible for cultivating High’s talent pipelines, building out High’s leadership development model, and enhancing the companies’ training and learning infrastructure.
Prime joins High from Susquehanna Bancshares where she served as director of organizational development and chief talent and learning officer. Prior to Susquehanna Bank, Prime was employed by PNC Financial Services Group serving as their senior vice president and director of talent development and at Sterling Financial as chief people officer and vice president of HR. She began her career at the Pennsylvania Association of Rehabilitation.
Prime holds a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the State University of New York.
Sanjay Guglani joined High in October in the newly created position of chief strategy officer. Guglani will lead the High companies’ corporate strategic planning process, enhance its strategic marketing capabilities, and drive specific growth programs across several business units.
Prior to joining High, Guglani was vice president of strategy and business development with Carpenter Technology in Reading, Pennsylvania. He also led Carpenter’s engineered products division and served as chief marketing officer. Prior to Carpenter, Guglani held marketing and strategy leadership positions at Textron in Providence, Rhode Island. He also served as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company and began his career as a field engineer with Schlumberger, working at several locations around the world.
Guglani earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, India, and his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire.
About The High Companies
The High companies, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, include High Industries Inc. and its affiliates High Steel Structures LLC, High Concrete Group LLC, High Steel Service Center LLC, High Transit LLC, High Structural Erectors LLC, and High Company LLC, which includes High’s business support functions; and High Real Estate Group LLC and its affiliates High Associates Ltd., High Construction Company, Greenfield Architects Ltd., High Hotels Ltd., High Environmental Health and Safety Consulting Ltd., and High Investors Ltd.
Mike Shirk joined High in November 2014 and assumed the role of President and CEO on January 1, 2015.
More information can be found at http://www.high.net.