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The Pritzker’s focus on hospitality and personal service helped


propel SMG into the property management scene, and soon, the company began to acquire more facilities. When Ginty started on the Human Resources side of the company 26 years ago, SMG had about 24 buildings. “The growth was spectacular,” she says. “We were ‘it’ for quite a


while.” Other private management companies began to emerge on the


scene, but SMG held its own as it kept its focus on personalized ser-          to managing facilities, so each new account received a custom ap- proach.


By Kelly Pedone


The company that sets the gold standard in venue management is celebrating its ruby anniversary with more than 230 venues in its portfolio, its own rapidly expanding food services division, and its sights set on further international expansion. SMG, a pioneer in the private management industry, began with


a single building in 1977 – the Superdome in New Orleans – a con- tract they have held continuously for 40 years. “The Superdome is a symbol of our company’s character, culture and longevity,” says Maureen Ginty, Executive Vice President for Marketing Services and Human Resources. “It is a wonderful mar- quee facility.” The Pennsylvania-based company averages nearly six new facility accounts annually since its inception and boasts a 92 percent renewal rate among existing accounts. Their current portfolio includes six NFL stadiums, convention centers that house more than 15 million square feet of exhibition space, and 1.5 million sports and entertain- ment seats. SMG-managed venues have hosted more NCAA cham- pionships than any other private management company. SMG is Eu- rope’s biggest private arena operator and its food services division, SAVOR, is one of the fastest growing food and beverage providers, serving more than 140 accounts worldwide. “We are very proud to celebrate our position as the leader in our


industry,” says SMG President and CEO Wes Westley. “Our track record is precious to us, and there is still a lot of headroom and po- tential for growth.”


The Beginning The growth of SMG can be mirrored by the evolution of the Su- perdome.


Completed in 1975, the Superdome was a municipal facility built to house the NFL New Orleans Saints. Two years later, state leaders approached the Pritzker family, which owned Hyatt Hotels, to see   formed, as the Pritzker’s Facility Manager Group joined forces with Ed Snider of Spectacor Management. That partnership became SMG. Private management was a novel concept at the time. Buildings


were not “purpose built” in the early to late 1970s; instead they were built to accommodate football, baseball, conventions, and other large-scale events. “In the early days, sports teams did not require the same level of commercial rights and facility-driven revenues that they do today through sponsorship, advertising, premium seating, etc.,” says Doug Thornton, SMG Executive Vice President of Stadiums and Arenas.


34 Facility Manager Magazine


“I tend to attribute the success of our company to two things: our hospitality roots instilled by the Pritzkers, and our specialized focus by line of business,” says Gregg Caren, Executive Vice President of Convention Centers & Business Development. “Perhaps it’s because I also started in the hospitality business but I tend of focus on the service culture and our goals of managing venues like one would  Still, many within SMG say the company is the force that it is today because of Westley at the helm.


Leadership “If you look at the company’s growth, you can see that there was an acceleration when Wes came in,” Thornton says. Westley started with SMG 26 years ago and has served as Presi- dent and CEO since 1994, which coincided with a building boom among professional teams – especially stadiums and arenas. Westley made the move to create individualized divisions within SMG fo- cusing on the company’s varied holdings – including stadiums and  This change allowed the company’s professionals to focus more care- fully on their specialized lines of business.  


sets,” Thornton says. “It has allowed us to deploy talented subject matter experts to support the various needs. It has helped us add val-  Caren agrees. “While there are certain fundamental common-


alities from a pure facility management standpoint, there are great  versus meeting and trade show planners) and our guests (i.e. fans ver- sus delegates and exhibitors),” he says. “By building our national and regional teams by line of business, it allows for specialized support and dedicated industry engagement.” In the end, Westley attributes that it was the creation of the spe-


cialized divisions that allows SMG to not only give customized treat- ment to their clients, but also to develop a deep team of profession- als. The company has experienced very little turnover as the average tenure at the executive level is nearly 20 years. Such consistency has helped maintain a level of professionalism and expertise that gives the company an edge over competitors. SMG has also developed best practices for operating systems and


procedures over the past 40 years that set them apart from others in  -  Still, you can’t survive 40 years in business without experiencing


bumps in the road, and SMG has faced obstacles similar to many  the credit crisis of 2008 forced company leaders to react creatively


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