THE AMDEL TEAM
Prior to joining Amdel Associates, Mr. Belmonte was a leader and visionary in the hospitality industry.
Steven J. Belmonte brought new meaning to the phrase “from the mailroom to the Boardroom.” Mr. Belmonte started his impressive career as the youngest general manager in the history of Holiday Inn – at the age of 18, and in a few years owned this hotel. He went on to hold the title of longest standing President and CEO of a national franchised hotel chain while at the helm of the Ramada hotel chain from 1991 to 2002.
For nearly 11 years Mr. Belmonte was President and CEO of the Ramada hotel chain, which had over 1,100 hotels and nearly 142,000 hotel rooms throughout the United States. He also served as Executive Vice President of the Cendant Hotel Division, now called Wyndham Worldwide. As part of his plan to solidly position the Ramada chain in the upper-mid-tier segment, Belmonte also masterminded the revolutionary customer service initiative, Personal Best Hospitality, which offered tuition reimbursement and a variety of other incentives to foster a career path in the hotel industry.
Mr. Belmonte’s commitment to give back to the industry where he made his career is also reflected by the positions he held: Chairman of the American Hotel Foundation (AHF), Chairman of the Fund Development Committee of AH&LEF, Chairman of the Honorary Board with Plan International (formerly Foster Parents Plan) and recipient of its prestigious Humanitas Award. Mr. Belmonte’s passion for helping others left enduring monuments of goodwill. In Africa, Belmonte spearheaded the construction of two medical facilities, a Food and Science Laboratory, a Youth Center in Cairo, and The New Belmonte Library for the Hotel and Tourism Institute in Zambia, Africa complete with an internet connection to encourage the training of aspiring hotel industry leaders. In recognition of his unwavering dedication, the Hotel and Catering International Management Association (H.C.I.M.A.) named Mr. Belmonte an Honorary Fellow for his support of the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Trust in Lusaka, Zambia.
Further underscoring his propensity to give, the American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat-al Salam, a community of Jews and Arabs coexisting in peace in Israel, presented Mr. Belmonte with its first ever Ambassador of Peace Humanitarian award for his charitable endeavors in the area. Mr. Belmonte was also the recipient of the prestigious 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by Roosevelt University in Chicago.
Prior to his position at Ramada, Mr. Belmonte was the President and CEO of Equity Hotel Corporation, a hotel management and development firm that he co-founded in 1984 and nurtured to become one of the top ten management companies in the industry. A variety of hotel brands made up the 45 property Equity portfolio, which in addition to his diverse experiences as a franchisee and general manager, equipped Mr. Belmonte with a broad range of expertise in the franchised hotel industry.
As a member of the Board of Directors of Arlington Hospitality (NASDAQ/NM: HOST) Mr. Belmonte served as Chairman of the Compensation Committee. In addition to his positions with Arlington Hospitality, Mr. Belmonte also served on the Board of Industry Relationships for the Asian American Hotel Owner’s Association, is an Adjunct Faculty Member of the Round Table Group and is a member of the Franchise Panel.
In 2002, Mr. Belmonte returned to his entrepreneurial roots and launched Hospitality Solutions LLC, a full-service, nationwide consultation firm specializing in lodging industry issues at the hotel and corporate level. Hospitality Solutions was specifically designed to assist hotel owners in negotiating a fair franchise agreement with all major hotel franchise companies.
In 2011, Mr. Belmonte launched Vimana Franchise Systems, a hotel franchising company with the brands Centerstone Inns, Hotels and Plaza Hotels and Key West Inns, Hotels and Resorts. Each brand offers three tiers ranging from two diamond to four diamond. In 2018, Vimana Franchise Systems’ Centerstone and Key West brands were sold to Cobblestone Hotels.
Buying and Selling Businesses William (Bill) Coluccio possesses a unique blend of business experience, both as a successful entrepreneur and an established Senior Executive with positions at several privately held and public companies. His 35-year career spans both the Domestic and Foreign business arena.
Early in his career, Bill held a series of senior executive positions at several fortune 500 companies including: Special Advisor to Accenture; Managing Director for KPMG; Vice President of Investment Banking for Mitsui Bank; Director for the Geneva Corporation; and Assistant Controller for Philip Morris Companies.
As the founder of Amdel Associates in 1988, a boutique Investment Banking firm in New York City, Bill has represented both public and privately held companies in the U.S.A., Japan, and Europe seeking strategic acquisitions. He has raised significant equity capital and successfully negotiated and structured the purchase and/or sale of over 40 privately held businesses in the $20 million to $600 million-dollar valuation range.
Additionally, Bill’s experience as a business owner and operator has afforded him the opportunity to successfully create and build several businesses, including; an Insurance General Agency, an Independent Marketing Organization, a Chain of Retail Franchises, a Telecommunications Distribution Company, and a Seminar-Based Financial Services Firm.
He is the author of several articles and seminars on such topics as Mergers and Acquisitions, Succession Planning of Privately Owned Companies, and Estate Tax Planning. Over the years, he has been interviewed and/or quoted in Fortune magazine, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Japan M&A Reporter, and the Los Angeles Daily Journal Law Business.
Bill received a BBA degree in Accounting and Finance from The Lubin School of Business at Pace University and an MBA degree in Taxation from the Pace University Graduate School. He is a registered securities representative holding Series 7,6,65, and 63 securities licenses. He is also an active member of the Association for Corporate Growth, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, and the Council of Franchise Suppliers. Bill lives in Holmdel, New Jersey, and is a proud father of a daughter and two sons; and a very happy grandfather of two granddaughters.
Mr. Pellegrini spent his career as a Senior Operations Executive with over 20 years of customer experience, management consulting, financial and operational experience at such multi-billion dollar firms as CBRE, Accenture, Time Warner, Dr. Pepper, and Snapple. Mr. Pellegrini has deep experience in customer experience and strategy implementation across both highly complex, Fortune 500 companies in multiple industries with tens of thousands of employees as well as higher growth middle market companies.
Prior to joining Amdel Associates , Mr. Pellegrini served as Senior Managing Director responsible for executing the Client Experience (CX) Program for CBRE Group, the world’s largest commercial real estate services company. Additionally as a Corporate Management Consultant, he has led the development and implementation of innovative solutions in industries such as real estate, financial services, health care, technology and aerospace. Mr. Pellegrini’s major clients have included Allianz, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Raytheon, Hughes Aircraft, Fujifilm, Canadian Airlines, Level 3 Communications, Public Service Gas & Electric of New Jersey, Irvine Ranch Water District, Monrovia Nursery, and East West Bank.
Key career achievements for Mr. Pellegrini have also included: implementing global Net Promoter System (NPS) based customer feedback programs for over 40 markets, development of digital client data platform for client teams supporting over $1.5 billion in revenues, leading process improvement efforts to improve operational efficiencies, designing the process architectures for Fortune 100 companies, and leading cross-functional teams as part of a post-merger insurance carrier integration.
Additionally, Mr. Pellegrini’s financial and operational experience has allowed him to fulfill Controller and CFO roles for several client company engagements.
Mr. Pellegrini received his MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA and his B.A. in Business Administration from Maharishi International University. He has been a Certified Public Accountant for over 20 years. His passions include yoga, meditation, SCUBA diving, stand up paddle boarding, and extensive international travel.
After high profile careers in the NFL and commercial music production, John Scully made an immediate impact in the insurance industry, working with Brown & Brown, and setting Illinois state worksite sales records. This unusual achievement led to recruitment by a fledgling AIG worksite operation as lead for development efforts in the Midwest.
At AIG, John quickly ascended through the ranks and was ultimately promoted to National Account Executive for AIG Benefits, a multi profit center marketing group reporting directly to the corporate CEO.
In the years that followed his AIG tenure, Mr. Scully filled multiple industry roles, including national positions at insurance carriers CV Starr and Aflac, along with High Net Worth marketing roles at M Financial. Exposure at the Executive levels of these, and Fortune 500 organizations throughout his career, has enabled John to develop close and diverse senior industry relationships, and an abiding sense of effective strategic thinking. A valuable set of tools that that he brings to his clients and business partners.
In 2013, John decided his extensive network was sufficiently powerful enough to put to effective use through Scully Consulting LLC, an organization through which he advises extensively in all disciplines of insurance including, marketing, product creation, process, technology, and M&A.
As Amdel’s Managing Director of Financial Services, John brings a special set of skills and direct relationships that enable him to identify viable acquisition and joint venture opportunities in the Financial Services, P & C, and Life Insurance sector.
Though a unanimous All-American football center at Notre Dame, John is best known at his alma mater for co-writing the anthem ‘Here Come the Irish.”
Dr. Swaim combines over 50 years of practical international business experience with a distinguished record of teaching and graduate level research in the field of management and executive development. He collaborated with Peter Drucker (known as the “Father of Modern Management”) in developing Drucker’s over 65 years of contributions to management thinking into an EMBA and Executive Development Program for Chinese executives and managers in China. Dr. Swaim was a student, colleague, and personal friend of Peter Drucker for nearly 30 years prior to Drucker’s death in 2005. Dr. Swaim spent 10 years living in Beijing and teaching the Drucker Programs throughout China.
Prior to joining Amdel Associates, Dr. Swaim was President of the Coto Group, Inc., a consulting and financial services firm which provided merger and acquisition, employee stock ownership plans, debt and equity financing, business valuations, and other corporate finance services to both privately held and public companies on a domestic and international level. He also has extensive experience in dealing with transition management issues associated with mergers and acquisitions to ensure a successful new business combination. Dr. Swaim also developed and conducted management and executive development programs for multinational, joint venture, and private and state owned enterprises in China.
He has held executive positions with the Geneva Companies, a middle market merger and acquisition firm, Occidental Petroleum where he was instrumental in completing the second largest acquisition in U.S. history at the time, and also with Mobil Oil and Xerox.
He completed his doctoral work at Claremont Graduate University (Drucker Graduate School of Management) and also holds an MA in Management from Claremont; an MBA from Pepperdine University; and a BBA from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Swaim has also served as Associate Professor of Management and Organization Development for the University of San Francisco Graduate School and was a Visiting Distinguished Professor of Management for Saint Leo University’s China MBA Program, Beijing Institute of Technology and the University of International Business & Economics (Beijing, PRC). He recently became an Advisory Board Member to the Fisk College of Business, Florida Institute of Technology.
He also served honorably as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps.
Robert W. Swaim, Ph.D.
Managing Director
Post Merger Integration