"Kemmons Wilson Cos. has
many tentacles, one tenet"

Emphasis,
Memphis Business Journal
By Theresa Bechard
June 8-14, 2001

In the 1950s. Kemmons Wilson and his wife stayed in a motel where they were charged $2 extra for each of his five kids.

Unhappy with the service he received, he started his own chain of budget hotels, Holiday Inns-and a chain reaction of other business interests followed that have been developed and are now managed by the second generation Wilsons.

Following Kemmons Wilson's retirement as chairman of the board of Holiday Inns in 1979, his three sons have taken the reins of Kemmons Wilson Cos.-an entity that has become as diverse as his family tree.

While it's best known for its real estate development and hotel management, Kemmons Wilson Cos.' Businesses have run the gamut from candy and nacho chip making to road sign fabrication and hotel furniture manufacturing.

Under the leadership team that includes Wilson and his three sons, the company is guided through the same entrepreneurial spirit that prompted Wilson Sr. to start one of the country's most famous hotel chains.

The company's mission statement says it best: "The Kemmons Wilson Cos. is an entrepreneurial-oriented business organization, structured to perpetuate and enhance the philosophy and entrepreneurial spirit of Kemmons Wilson, its founder."

While still guided with the entrepreneurial spirit of the family patriarch, the Wilson sons have each brought their own areas of expertise that guide different aspects of one of Memphis' largest private companies, which had $314 million in revenue and 2,005 employees in 2000.

Wilson's oldest son, Spence, is the president of Kemmons Wilson Cos., and oversees the company's Orange Lake Resort & Country Club, a 1,494-unit time-share resort minutes away from Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Orange Lake has more than 70,000 owners and is one of the world's largest timeshare resorts.

Bob Wilson, an aviation enthusiast and the son most involved in project construction, is company vice president.

His primary focus is overseeing Wilson Air Center, a corporate air center at Memphis International Airport. He plans to expand the concept into other markets in the next few years.

Kem Jr. is executive vice president and oversees the hotel management side of the business as well as commercial and residential development—the latter of which Wilson Sr. was involved in before starting Holiday Inns.

Wilson Hotel Management Co. directs operations at more than 30 hotels including Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn, and the family's own brands, Wilson Inns, Wilson World Hotels and Wilson Inn and Suites.

"We break everything up between us," says Kem Wilson Jr. "We have very diverse interests and by dividing it all up it works best that way."

While Kemmons Wilson Cos. will remain in a variety of business interests, the company is continuing its focus on five major interests: hotel development and management; resort time-sharing; banking; home building and subdivision development; and private investment.

Lately, Kemmons Wilson Cos. has increased its participation in venture capital deals as part of the Memphis Angels, an investment group launched by Memphis-based Paradigm Capital Partners to evaluate and fund early-stage emerging growth companies located primarily in the Southeast.

This group includes prominent leaders, entrepreneurs and executives of several Memphis-based companies with significant expertise in multiple domains.

Along with investing in private ventures, Kemmons Wilson Cos. is working to invest more in the city of Memphis, he says.

Through a $15 million gift from Kemmons Wilson Sr. in 1999, the University of Memphis is receiving the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality and Resort Management. The training facility and operating hotel is under construction at the university and will provide hands-on training for students in all aspects of hospitality and resort management.

When completed by the end of the year, the facility will consist of 82 suite-style rooms, conference facilities and classrooms.

"We're really excited about the opportunity to have a full-fledged hospitality school in Memphis," says Kem Wilson Jr.

Also under construction by the Kemmons Wilson Cos. is Tournament Trails, a $44 million, 400,000-square-foot speculative office park in the increasingly popular Nonconnah corridor.

The four-building complex is being developed, managed and leased by Memphis-based Weston Cos. on 38 acres at the northeast corner of Winchester and Bobo roads, which is on the southeast boundary of Southwind.

While speculative office projects like Tournament Trails involve great cost and a degree of risk, Wilson executives say the Nonconnah corridor is a safe bet for the project.

The success of Southwind, which has been fueled by the completion of Nonconnah Parkway and by FedEx Corp.'s 89-acre high-tech headquarters, prompted Wilson Cos. to launch the office project, says Kem Wilson Jr.

"We used to be more heavily involved in office development in other states, but when we got this tract of land, we got excited at the prospect of developing in that area," he says.

Kemmons Wilson Cos. has developed a total of about 1.5 million square feet of office space in Louisville, Ky., Topeka, Kan., Cincinnati and Memphis over the past 20 years.

The company also has a 20-unit condominium development under construction in downtown Houston, a concept the Wilson brothers say they hope to expand into other cities soon.

But as its revenue and interests grow, Kemmons Wilson Cos.' leaders are ensuring that the company benefits its hometown, says Kem Wilson Jr.

"We love Memphis and are proud to support things that are good for the city," he says. "We want to be good citizens corporately and spiritually."

Through the Wilson Foundation-headed by Kemmons Wilson's daughters, Betty Wilson Moore and Carole Wilson West-the company is achieving that goal by providing funding for youth, education and social service organizations.

"We hope long-term to continue to fund opportunities to put more capital to work in Memphis," says Spence Wilson. "And, we hope, too, that the Wilson Foundation will grow in size and become a meaningful player in the Memphis non-profit arena."