Orange County Update – Rosen Plaza Skybridge

Rosen Hotels & Resorts celebrated a milestone March 1, 2013 as it announced plans to build a new skybridge connecting Rosen Plaza, its 800-room convention hotel, with the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) West Building. The pedestrian skybridge will be named the Gary Sain Memorial Bridge, in honor of the previous Visit Orlando President & CEO who passed away in May 2012. Sain had led the region’s main tourism-marketing agency since 2007, bringing about reorganization, a new vision and a name change to what had for years been called the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, or Orlando CVB.

Construction of the $3 million bridge will be entirely funded by Rosen Hotels & Resorts, completing the final link in connecting OCCC with adjacent International Drive hotels. Rosen Plaza’s sister property, Rosen Centre, installed an aerial walkway for pedestrians in March 2011. The bridges are designed to provide meetings attendees with a safe, weather-proof and traffic-free “commute” from their guestroom to the convention center.

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ORLANDO (March 21, 2013) – While Rosen Hotels & Resorts prides itself on practicing green initiatives 24 hours a day with little fanfare or promotion, the company will be highlighting one of those hours this Saturday during the national Earth Hour celebration to help educate hotel guests about the importance of living as eco-friendly as possible.

Earth Hour is a global environmental initiative in partnership with WWF (World Wildlife Fund) in which individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday March 23, 2013 to show their support for environmentally sustainable action.

The seven Orlando Rosen Hotels & Resorts properties will be turning off all non-essential interior and exterior lighting to include the rose garden and fountains at Rosen Shingle Creek, Rosen Centre and Rosen Plaza. In addition, special activities such as candlelit dinners and glow drinks for guests will be served in hotel restaurants.

Rosen Hotels & Resorts and its seven Orlando hotels will be joining hundreds of millions of participants in more than 7,000 cities and towns, in 152 countries and territories, and across seven continents in showing support for the importance of sustainable action around the world.

“We don’t claim to be the first hotel group to implement a green meetings initiative, nor do we claim to be the experts, but we can say that we have been practicing conservation efforts for many years and continue to look for ways to reduce, reuse and recycle wherever possible,” said Harris Rosen, President & COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts.

Rosen Hotels & Resorts’ three Orlando convention properties, the 800-room Rosen Plaza, 1334-room Rosen Centre and 1500-room Rosen Shingle Creek, were each designated Two Palm Green Lodges in 2009 under the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)’s Florida Green Lodging Program. Launched in March 2004, the Florida Green Lodging Program establishes environmental guidelines for hotels to conserve natural resources and prevent pollution.

Long before Florida’s Green Lodging program was established, Rosen Hotels & Resorts has made efforts to be responsible stewards of the area’s resources. For example, each of the hotels offers guests the opportunity to use linens and towels more than once, and each has water-efficient toilets and washing machines. Outdoor lighting and back-of-house lighting is operated by sensors. Programmable thermostats, Energy-Star appliances and paper and newspaper recycling programs are among the many ways the hotels lessen their eco-footprint. Rosen Shingle Creek goes as far as to convert used cooking oil into bio-fuel to operate its golf course maintenance equipment. A website www.rosengreenmeetings.com shows meeting planners the ways in which Rosen Hotels & Resorts is already working to help the environment, provides 10 meeting planner tips for holding a greener meeting and offers numerous links to learning more about “going green.”

Rosen Hotels & Resorts also offers its associates the opportunity to conserve resources by offering Lynx bus passes via a payroll deduction program, posts a directory of associates interested in carpooling and offers alternate work schedules of four 10-hour days in certain departments to help reduce gas costs.

These energy-saving programs are imperceptible to hotel guests, proving that upscale accommodations don’t have to waste resources such as water and energy, to provide a superior guest experience. “Guests may never notice the small changes we’ve made to help save our planet, but we do them because it’s simply the right thing to do,” said Rosen. “Those guests who do take note applaud our efforts because they, too, are socially responsible citizens who are concerned about the effects man has on his environment.”

Over the past 38 years, Rosen Hotels & Resorts has grown from 256 to approximately 6,300 rooms, approximately six percent of the total guest rooms in Central Florida. Today, the Rosen family of hotels includes three award-winning meetings properties — Rosen Shingle Creek, Rosen Centre and Rosen Plaza — and four leisure properties — Quality Inn International, Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando, Rosen Inn closest to Universal and Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista. All seven Rosen Hotels are located in the Orlando tourism corridor and remain committed to providing outstanding value for all guests. For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com or call 866-33-ROSEN.

Last spring, Rosen pledged to raise funds to assist with much-needed relief efforts. At that time, Lake Highland Preparatory School students asked him to match dollar for dollar any monies they might raise. When they came to the table with an astounding $43,240, he honored that pledge to make a total donation of $86,440. Since then, other donations from Rosen Hotels & Resorts associates and other sources have brought that total to $100,000.

Mayor Dyer introduced exchange students from Urayasu, who conducted a brief presentation, sharing video and photos along with stories about their personal experiences involving the earthquake, the state of their homeland, relief efforts already in place and the resilient spirit of the Japanese people. The students also presented Rosen with a Japanese doll of friendship as a thank you for his efforts on their country’s behalf.

“It was incredibly impactful to hear directly from the students about what they heard, saw and felt during the earthquake,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “I am incredibly honored that our community showed such an outpouring of support for the residents effected by the Japan earthquake and for Orlando’s long-standing relationship with the residents of Urayasu.”

The student presentation was followed by remarks from Rosen, who spoke about the need for relief in Urayasu and in the Tohuku region, which is one of the closest areas to the earthquake epicenter.

“As a young man in the military, I was stationed in Japan and developed an affection and appreciation for the Japanese people and their culture. Because of my time spent there and the relationships I formed, I was honored to take on the role of Honorary Consul General for Orlando and am honored to be able to assist in fundraising and relief efforts. In this role, I hope to help in being a good steward of the money raised by the students at Lake Highland Preparatory School and by Rosen Hotels & Resorts associates and all who have so generously contributed.”

Rosen, Mayor Dyer and Jeff Turner, Special Assistant to the President for Leadership Development, Lake Highland Preparatory School, then presented a $100,000 check, which was accepted on behalf of the Japanese sister city by Takako Johnson, a member of the Mayor’s International Advisory Committee. The presentation was followed by refreshments in the lobby.

This is the second time that Rosen has matched funds raised by LHPS. Two years ago, the student body raised more than $116,000 for earthquake victims in Haiti, another cause near and dear to Rosen’s heart as more than one third of Rosen Hotels & Resorts associates are Haitian or of Haitian descent. Through his foundation, he also matched those funds, in addition to conducting numerous other fundraising, food and supply drives as part of his larger Relief-Rebuild-Sustain program for Haiti. Overall, the Harris Rosen Foundation has raised close to one million dollars for Haiti earthquake relief and continues to work on developing the low-cost, eco-friendly Little Haiti House Village.

Due to its competitive wages and outstanding associate benefit program, including the new Rosen Medical Center, A Place for Healing and Wellness, continuing education and language development programs, Rosen Hotels & Resorts has one of the lowest associate turnover rates in the hotel industry. Funding from the Harris Rosen Foundation has allowed for the creation of the Tangelo Park Project, which provides free preschool, college and vocational education to disadvantaged youth; the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management; and the Jack and Lee Rosen Southwest Orlando Jewish Community Center. The Foundation also contributes to numerous charitable organizations throughout Central Florida and beyond each year.

The Rosen Hotels & Resorts family includes three award-winning convention properties, Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre and Rosen Shingle Creek, and four leisure properties in the Orlando tourist corridor, including the Quality Inn International, Rosen Inn closest to Universal, Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando and Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista.

For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com or call 866-33-ROSEN.

Join us to explore the newest trends in Corporate Social Responsibility and how it can make meetings more relevant in today’s business world. You will hear about our Rosen Rewards program, developed specifically to bring CSR and meetings together. As a special treat you will be attending the Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour by Cirque Du Soleil. RSVP by Monday, February 20, 2012 as availability is limited!.

Make your mark with meetings.

Please RSVP by Monday, February 20, 2012 if interested to
(407) 996-3318 or e-mail kbrand@rosenhotels.com. Invitation includes airfare, lodging and airport transfers.

ORLANDO (Nov. 7, 2011) — Few could argue with the fact that members of law enforcement need to be fit, strong and healthy to do their jobs successfully. So when Captain Gilles W. McDaniel mentioned to hotelier Harris Rosen that the 75 Orange County Sheriff’s deputies serving Sector V, the greater International Drive area, did not have a fitness facility to use, Rosen not only decided to invite the deputies to use the fitness centers at his hotels, but also spearheaded a program to involve other area gyms and athletic centers.

While other sectors of the Orange County Sheriff’s office have fitness facilities within their precinct headquarters, Sector V is located in a donated building that currently has no gym. Now, thanks to the recently launched “Fit Deputy” program, deputies serving the I-Drive area may use the fitness centers at Rosen Shingle Creek, Rosen Centre, the Jack & Lee Rosen Southwest Orlando Jewish Community Center (JCC) and Gold’s Gym in the Dr. Phillips area, at any time during normal operating hours. Deputies would be able to search a new Fit Deputy website created and maintained by Rosen Hotels & Resorts to find the participating fitness center closest to them.

“I know I speak for all of the businesses involved when I say it’s a privilege to be able to invite the Orange County Sheriff’s department Sector V deputies to use our fitness centers. I’m grateful to Sheriff Demings and Captain McDaniel for allowing us to provide the opportunity to support and thank our area deputies for all they do for I-Drive business owners and Orlando visitors,” said Harris Rosen, President & COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts.

Sector V deputies may now enjoy the convenience of working out before or after work within minutes of their assigned areas. The Fit Deputy program also ties into an existing sheriff’s office wellness program that offers discounts on insurance premiums for those taking part in healthy initiatives.

Rosen added, “The Fit Deputy program is a win-win for all involved. Physically fit deputies are healthier and more effective on the job, therefore reducing health care costs and tax dollars in the long-term. Not only that, the increased presence of the deputies as well as their marked vehicles in and around I-Drive hotels and businesses provides us all an added sense of security.”

The innovative program has caught the attention of other sectors of the Orange County Sheriff’s office who find the program even more attractive than having often limited fitness facilities within their precincts and are hoping to launch similar programs with support from other Orlando area businesses.

“The level of partnership and show of support from Rosen Hotels & Resorts, the Southwest Orlando JCC and Gold’s Gym Dr. Phillips, is incredibly gratifying and encouraging to all of our deputies, who may or may not be able to personally finance a gym membership. Top physical shape is crucial to staying at the top of their game while protecting and serving the public in this incredibly active tourist corridor,” said Captain McDaniel. “This program is already serving as a catalyst for other cooperative programs, both here and in other sectors, and we are grateful to Harris Rosen for putting the idea into action.”

Other hotels or fitness centers interested in providing complimentary gym access to the Orange County Sheriff’s department may contact Janice Abrew at Rosen Hotels & Resorts, 407-996-1706.

Harris Rosen has a long-standing commitment to promoting health and physical fitness. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, the Orlando Business Journal recognized Rosen as a “Healthcare Hero”  for his commitment to providing associate wellness programs and affordable healthcare for associates and their dependent families — approximately 4,500 people in all. Rosen Hotels & Resorts was named a “Gold Level Start! Fit Friendly Company!” in 2009 and a “Platinum Level Start! Fit Friendly Company!” in 2010 by the American Heart Association and was listed in the Sept. 28, 2009 issue of Fortune magazine. The company was recognized in 2008 with one of only nine Apex awards from hub magazine, the official publication of UnitedHealth Group. The hotelier, who is also a master swimmer and exercises daily, invented the “Perfect Pizza” a low-fat, low-sodium pizza with honey wheat crust and no trans fats that is sold to associates and hotel guests. Also known for his generous contributions to the Orlando community and beyond, Rosen donated $3.5 million to the Greater Orlando JCC to build the newest JCC location, named for his parents, Jack and Lee Rosen.

Over the past 37 years, Rosen Hotels & Resorts has grown from 256 to approximately 6,300 rooms, approximately six percent of the total guest rooms in Central Florida. Today, the Rosen family of hotels, which includes the AAA Four Diamond Rosen Shingle Creek, the award-winning Rosen Centre and Rosen Plaza, and four leisure properties ideally located in the Orlando tourist corridor, including Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando, Rosen Inn, Quality Inn International and the Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista, remain committed to providing outstanding value for all guests.

For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com or call 866-33-ROSEN.

ORLANDO (Oct. 28, 2011) – Normally, students go to college and eat plenty of pizza. But now, eating pizza is actually helping to send kids to college…

Profits from the sales of Rosen’s Perfect Pizza(TM), featuring a honey whole-wheat crust and zero grams of trans fat, will go to the Harris Rosen Foundation, a 501(c) organization that provides educational scholarships for the benefit of disadvantaged students and to make grants for educational, scientific, charitable and literary purposes.

The pizza, which was created by Harris Rosen, President & COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts, is now being offered at 53 Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) middle and high schools. The Wheat Crust Turkey Pepperoni Pizza debuted on the lunch menu at schools throughout the district earlier this month and will be offered on selected dates throughout the school year, in keeping with OCPS’ cyclical school lunch calendar. A 16″ slice is sold as part of the Super Combo Meal, which also includes Veggie Dippers, a Cantaloupe Spear and a 6-oz. fruit juice for just $3.00.

In introducing Rosen’s Perfect Pizza to public schools, Harris Rosen hopes to supplement students’ healthier meal options and help them establish good eating habits to last into adulthood.

“Children’s nutrition plays such an important role in their overall development, both physically and mentally, so having the right foods in place at school, where some children eat two of their three meals of the day, is so crucial,” said the hotelier and philanthropist. “We hope that Rosen’s Perfect Pizza will be just the first of many more smart options available in schools to set kids on the right path to lifelong health and wellness.”

Rosen has a proven passion for empowering and educating youth, through programs like the Tangelo Park Pilot Program, which he created nearly 18 years ago to provide free preschool and higher education opportunities for underprivileged youth in the Tangelo Park neighborhood of Orlando. His experience in working with disadvantaged youth has also fueled his fire to improve nutrition among young people. Rosen hopes to eventually launch an entire line of Perfect Foods to consumers via a multitude of distribution channels, including grocery stores.

While it may seem surprising for a hotelier to branch into food development, for Rosen, the concept is a marriage of his many passions. A weekend cooking enthusiast as well as an avid fitness buff and Master swimmer, Harris Rosen has long shared his enthusiasm for wellness with his associates. Rosen Hotels & Resorts has been nationally recognized for its innovative, trend-setting associate wellness and preventative care programs as well as the company’s low-cost insurance and on-site, full-service medical clinic. His commitment to education and next-level hospitality training not only led him to donate the land and funds to build UCF’s Rosen School of Hospitality Management, but he was also named a member of the “Culinary Class of 2008″ by the Orlando Sentinel for his contributions to the college’s culinary school as well as his commitment to providing quality cuisine in his hotel restaurants.

For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com or call 866-33-ROSEN.

ORLANDO (August 12, 2011) – Rosen Hotels & Resorts announced today it will build a new in-house associate medical facility, The Rosen Medical Center, A Place for Healing and Wellness, which will open in March of 2012.  The new 12,000 square–foot facility will be located at 7600 International Drive, Orlando, Fla. 32819, near the current 4,000 square-foot Rosen Medical Center located at the Quality Inn International hotel on International Drive, one of seven Rosen properties in Orlando. The building will be constructed according to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified standards as outlined by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The new building’s additional 8,000 square feet will provide space for more treatment rooms, new rooms for mammograms and other specialty screenings, examination rooms for specialists, a physical therapy/rehabilitation center and an adjoining fitness unit. The company also recently hired a wellness coordinator to oversee the growing roster of free health and fitness programs it offers to employees.  Once the new medical center opens, the current medical center will be transformed to hotel meeting space.

While in-house, corporate healthcare programs recently came under fire by select physicians on national news programs for being “disconnected from healthcare,” having “no network for referrals,” being ineffective at holding employees accountable for their own wellness and prevention, and for being financially risky, the continued growth and cost-savings of Rosen’s comprehensive program, which was established in 1991, proves that corporations can indeed effectively take charge of their employees’ health and wellness  ?  and save a considerable amount of money doing so.

The medical center is just one part of the hotel group’s extensive in-house healthcare program which provides 6,800 Rosen Hotels & Resorts associates, their dependents, and students from the UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management with personalized care with a focus on wellness, healing, prevention, low premiums, minimal co-payments for office visits and prescriptions, and readily available appointments. The multi-lingual staff includes three full-time physicians, two nurse practitioners (ARNP), a full-time social worker, a part-time dietician and a part-time podiatrist, among others.

Features of the Rosen Hotels & Resorts program include preventative care such as annual physicals, comprehensive screening lab tests, well-baby care, pregnancy case management, weight management and dietician services, smoking cessation, flu shots and vaccines, mental health and dental benefits, as well as exercise programs, classes and fitness groups.

Contrary to the belief that in-house solutions are “disconnected from healthcare” and have “no network for referrals,” Rosen’s medical center is linked with a broad and established network of specialists at Florida Hospital Healthcare Systems as well as other specialists who have been individually selected by the Rosen medical team. Once referred to a specialist, patients are tracked by a case manager to ensure that they are seen in a timely manner and receive quality care.

According to Kenneth Aldridge, RN, BSN, MS-H.S.A., Director of Health Services, “Our medical team knows who and why patients are in the hospital. With a smaller base of patients and more personalized care, our physicians are able to truly care for and oversee all aspects of their patients’ health.”

The claim that in-house healthcare “will not work for preventative medicine” is also a fallacy. The Rosen Medical Center conducts prostate screening exams, mammograms for breast cancer, ultrasounds for screening aortic aneurysms and carotid artery blockages, and in the new facility, dexascans (DXA) for osteoporosis. Patients are regularly referred to a gastroenterologist for screening colonoscopies. A variety of other tests can be performed in-house, including X-rays, electrocardiograms (EKG), and more, as well as lab work. Programs also exist for diabetes care, prenatal care and pregnancy prevention.  A comprehensive pharmacy program includes an in-house pharmacy conveniently dispensing the most common medications on-site for no or little co-pay to the associate and additional programs that provide prescriptions to purchase over-the-counter medications at prices less than retail, as well as 90-day mail order and 90-day retail programs.

Rosen Hotels & Resorts has also proven that bringing healthcare in-house can, in fact, save money for both the company and its employees. Today, the program costs Rosen Hotels & Resorts approximately $14 million annually, while the national average for a company its size is a whopping $36 million annually. While the rest of the nation’s premiums have been increasing at an astronomical rate, far exceeding the CPI, Rosen’s costs “per covered life” have remained relatively steady, averaging approximately $2,900/per covered life for the past five years versus approximately $7,500/per covered life which is the national average. Additionally, workers’ compensation costs at Rosen Hotels are a fraction of the hospitality industry average and the company’s employee turnover percentage is in the teens, versus the hospitality industry average of 100 to 150 percent.

Costs to associates remain low as well. For the majority of associates, premiums are $14.75 per week, while family coverage is $48.25 per week, which also includes dental coverage. Primary care visits are only $5 while pediatric care, smoking cessation, physicals and diagnostic testing are free. Specialist co-pays are only $15. Not only do Rosen associates pay little out of pocket, they don’t have to take off work or lose pay in order to visit the doctor  ?   all visits to the medical center are “on the clock.” Even free transportation is provided.

Rosen associates play an important part in making preventative medicine more effective. “Our in-house program helps associates feel even more empowered and accountable for their health because wellness is at the heart of everything we do,” said Harris Rosen, President & COO, Rosen Hotels & Resorts. “We have an incredibly low turnover rate because our associates know that we’re invested in helping them stay healthy and we provide a scope of benefits that simply aren’t offered elsewhere in the marketplace.”

Rosen’s healthcare program has even been endorsed by members of the United States House of Representatives, Congressman Alan Grayson (FL-8) and Congressman Frank Pallone (NJ-6 and House Subcommittee Chair on Health), who toured the Rosen Medical Center in 2009, prompting Grayson to say, “This is the kind of innovation in healthcare that can be spread nationwide and save the nation as much as a trillion dollars. Yes, that’s a trillion with a ‘T’! We have a healthcare leader right here in Central Florida.”

In 2008, Rosen Hotels & Resorts was lauded for its innovative and forward-thinking in-house medical care and insurance program with one of only nine prestigious 2008 Apex Awards from hub magazine, the official publication of UnitedHealth Group. In the same year, the company was also named a “Platinum Level Start! Fit Friendly Company!” by the American Heart Association and was listed in Fortune magazine. The Orlando Business Journal recognized it as one of only two “Employer Health Care Heroes” in 2009.

For many years, Rosen has promoted and readily shared his model for employee healthcare with other business and community leaders. “You don’t need a medical degree to put a program like this together,” said Rosen. “Companies with 1,000 covered lives or more can cost-effectively build an in-house program,” he advised. “Those with lesser numbers can combine their efforts with other businesses.”

In fact, to help other businesses develop a program like his, in 2010, he launched a new venture — Rosen Healthcare Solutions. The service is promoted via ProvInsure, Harris Rosen’s insurance agency and risk management consulting company, and assists companies in either setting up their own primary care medical centers, or setting up and operating the facility on a turnkey basis.

To earn a LEED Certified rating or better, the company will incorporate a number of environmentally friendly materials into the construction of the new medical center as well as incorporating sustainable building and business practices. Skylights and natural lighting will be incorporated into the building design to lessen energy costs, and heating and air conditioning systems will have built-in set points and controls. Only low-emitting materials such as paints, adhesives, sealants and flooring will be used for the interior of the medical center, improving the air quality.  The medical center also will support alternative transportation methods, such as the associate shuttle, public transportation and bicycle racks.  Water and energy conservation practices will be utilized both indoors and out to lessen the ecological footprint of the new building. Rosen Hotels & Resorts will employ the services of a LEED experienced engineer to ensure that sustainable practices are being used throughout development of the site.

The new medical facility is just one of many new construction initiatives Rosen has implemented during this past year.  All of Rosen’s properties with the exception of his newest, the Rosen Shingle Creek, have undergone major guest room and public space refurbishing projects.  In addition, Rosen recently completed the Rosen Centre Skywalk to the Orange County Convention Center and will soon begin construction on a second skywalk from the Rosen Plaza to the Convention Center.  The total cost of these initiatives is approximately $50 million which includes the creation of jobs for approximately 500 workers.   Rosen states that now is a good time to do this work because construction costs are low and he believes that in due course the economy will improve and when it does, he states that “we will be ready.”

Over the past 37 years, Rosen Hotels & Resorts has grown from 256 to approximately 6,300 rooms, approximately six percent of the total guest rooms in Central Florida. Today, the Rosen family of hotels, which includes the award-winning Rosen Shingle Creek, Rosen Centre and Rosen Plaza, and four leisure properties in the Orlando tourist corridor, including the Quality Inn International, Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando, Rosen Inn closest to Universal and Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista, remain committed to providing outstanding value for all guests.

For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com or call 866-33-ROSEN.

This year, the groups jointly produced the “African American Heritage Tour: An Educational Adventure,” the first of a series of historical and educational tours of Florida. The tour, which took place July 10-15, was designed to provide an in-depth look at African American history in north and northeast Florida to educators of grades K-12, university and college personnel, religious and community leaders, and history enthusiasts. The tour included some public and private school students. With three honor students who flew to Florida from the Johnson College Prep School (named for John H. Johnson the founder of Ebony and Jet Magazines) in Chicago to experience stops in Innisbrook, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach and Orlando, where participants stayed at the Rosen Plaza hotel and took a tour of the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, as well as attending workshops and lectures.

The FAAHTF, UNESCO, TST and HBCU all provide training and advisement to Florida’s K-12 schools. The collaboration of the organizations helps to ensure implementation of Florida Statute 1003.42(h) statewide, a mandate to forge external partnerships involving corporations, national associations and philanthropy organizations. The creation of the Ring of Giving Humanitarian Award reflects the groups’ effort to forge external partnerships with the business community.

Mr. Rosen was given the award during the group’s closing breakfast on July 15 by State Representative Geraldine Thompson and Sherry Sherrod DuPree with UNESCO, who lauded the hotelier for his support of the heritage tour as well as his involvement in various educational endeavors and African American philanthropies.

“As the first recipient of the Ring of Giving Humanitarian Award, Mr. Rosen has set the standard extremely high for years to come,” said DuPree. “We are proud to give the inaugural award to someone who has done so much for children, for education, for African Americans and minorities, in Central Florida and beyond.”

Rosen was honored to receive the first award from the joint organizations. “I’m happy to be a part of this joint effort to aid Florida educators in teaching the African-American history of our state and to help forge new partnerships between the education and the business communities,” said Rosen. “When we work together, we can open doors we never thought possible.”

In the 1990s, Rosen created the Tangelo Park Pilot Program which continues to provide a free preschool education for all 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds in the disadvantaged Tangelo Park neighborhood near Orlando’s attractions corridor. The program also provides all Tangelo Park high school graduates with a free education at a vocational school, community college, junior college or a four-year public college education within Florida. Thus far, approximately 190 Tangelo Park youth have received full college scholarships from this program.

Further demonstrating his commitment to education, Rosen donated a 20-acre site and $18 million to help construct the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, which opened in January 2004. He also established a $5 million dollar endowment for the college that provides approximately 100 scholarships annually to students attending the college.

With more than 30 percent of his workforce either from Haiti or of Haitian descent, Harris Rosen is actively involved in disaster relief for citizens of Haiti. Since the earthquake in January 2010, the Harris Rosen Foundation has raised more than half a million dollars in relief. In recent years, Rosen hosted a “Water for Haiti” benefit, partnering with Air Mobile Ministries in Titusville, Fla. to raise $350,000 to purchase portable water purification systems for Haiti.

Rosen also uses his charitable organization as a means to encourage young people to give back. When students at Lake Highland Preparatory School (LHPS) conducted fundraisers to collect money for victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, they asked Rosen, who serves as Orlando’s Honorary Consul General of Japan, to match what they raised. The students of LHPS raised an astounding $43,240, and Rosen matched the amount dollar for dollar.

Additionally, Rosen also served as the Honorary Co-Chair of the Bethune-Cookman College Statue Project with the late Dr. Dorothy Height, President Emeriti of the National Council of Negro Women. The fundraiser was successful, and in January, 2005, a statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, the school’s founder, was unveiled on the campus.

Over the past 38 years, Rosen Hotels & Resorts has grown from 256 to approximately 6,300 rooms, approximately six percent of the total guest rooms in Central Florida. Today, the Rosen family of hotels, which includes the new Rosen Shingle Creek, the award-winning Rosen Centre and Rosen Plaza, and four leisure properties in the Orlando tourist corridor, including the Quality Inn International, Quality Inn Plaza and Rodeway Inn International and Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista, remain committed to providing outstanding value for all guests. For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com or call 866-33-ROSEN.

ORLANDO (June 8, 2011) — Rosen Hotels & Resorts has partnered with the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Foundation to provide three four-year scholarships to deserving students who have been accepted into the 2011/2012 school year at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida. Each scholarship is valued at approximately $50,000 and will cover tuition and fees, room and board, books, transportation and personal expenses for Fall and Spring semesters for eight consecutive semesters.

The scholarships will be awarded based on an applicant’s financial need, as well as on a 300-350 word essay describing their goals and dreams, how they hope to achieve these goals and how they would give back or lead the business community to demonstrate the value of the scholarship fund if awarded to them. To be eligible for the scholarship, candidates must have been accepted as a freshman to the University of Central Florida for the Fall semester of 2011, must have paid the non-refundable deposit to UCF and declared Hospitality Management, Events Management or Restaurant and Foodservice Management as their major.

“Both Rosen Hotels & Resorts and MPI have a vested interest in nurturing the best and brightest hospitality students,” said Harris Rosen, President & COO, Rosen Hotels & Resorts. “This partnership helps to ensure that students who may not have the financial means to support a Rosen College education can still make their mark on our industry one day soon.”

According to Tony Fundaro, Director of Development for the MPI Foundation, “Investing in the future of our industry through grants, scholarships and education is one of the key missions of the MPI Foundation and its members. We are proud to make a positive impact on tomorrow’s hospitality professionals by providing a helping hand to deserving Rosen College students.”

Applications may be found at www.mpiweb.org/Foundation/About/Scholarships and are due June 17, 2011. Completed applications must be received by mail with date stamp or e-mailed to the MPI Foundation no later than midnight June 17, 2011. Recipients will be notified by July 1, 2011 via e-mail.

Through the Harris Rosen Foundation, Rosen Hotels & Resorts actively gives back to education initiatives in the Central Florida community and beyond. Rosen donated the 20-acre site to the University of Central Florida to build the Rosen College of Hospitality Management and provided approximately $15million in additional funds to construct the college. For the last four years, Rosen has hosted a group of Cornell University students for “Alternative Spring Break” in which they spend one week in Orlando working with at-risk youth from the disadvantaged Tangelo Park neighborhood. The spring break program works hand-in-hand with Rosen’s Tangelo Park Program that he created in 1994 to benefit children and teens in the once drug- and crime-riddled neighborhood. Through the program, Rosen provides a free preschool education for all 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds, and all Tangelo Park youth who are accepted to a vocational school, community college, junior college or a four-year public college in Florida receive a completely free education to include, tuition, books, room and board. Thus far, approximately 190 Tangelo Park students have received full college scholarships.

Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the meeting and event industry’s most vibrant global community, helps its members thrive by providing human connections to knowledge and ideas, relationships, and marketplaces. MPI membership is comprised of more than 23,000 members belonging to 71 chapters and clubs worldwide.

The UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management is the nation’s largest hospitality program of its kind and is located in the world’s premier hospitality and tourism learning laboratory, Orlando. Approximately 1,000 students were enrolled in the program when the Rosen campus opened in 2004, and today, Rosen College has tripled that amount, proudly educating over 3,000 future industry leaders. Dedicated to the values of professionalism, leadership and service, the Rosen College of Hospitality Management is proud of its innovative academic programs, cutting-edge research, and strong industry and community partnerships.

Over the past 37 years, Rosen Hotels & Resorts has grown from 256 to approximately 6,300 rooms, approximately six percent of the total guest rooms in Central Florida. Today, the Rosen family of hotels, which includes the AAA Four Diamond Rosen Shingle Creek, the award-winning Rosen Centre and Rosen Plaza, and four leisure properties ideally located in the Orlando tourist corridor, including Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando, Rosen Inn, Quality Inn International and the Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista, remain committed to providing outstanding value for all guests.

For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com or call 866-33-ROSEN.