BUSINESS BACKGROUND

Howard Wright is an entrepreneur and executive with extensive experience in the transportation, tourism, and hospitality sectors, with a record of success building companies through the strategic acquisition and development of best-in-class properties and service providers.

Mr. Wright is Chairman of Seattle Hospitality Group (SHG), founded in 2002. SHG is a holding company with strategic investments in world-class hospitality, restaurant, tourism, and transportation companies in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and British Columbia. Ranked in the top 40 of private companies in Washington state, SHG has revenues in excess of $100 million and directly employs some 600 people, with another 400 people in SHG related businesses.

SHG owns or controls MTR Western - a passenger transportation business, Kenmore Air, Fremont Brewery, and Ethan Stowell Restaurants.

Howard Wright is a managing partner of the Sheraton Grand Seattle, a 1,236-room convention hotel ranked #2 in North America in Marriott’s Sheraton brand. In addition, Mr. Wright serves on the boards of several closely held restaurant and hotel ownership groups.

Mr. Wright began his working life as a commercial airline pilot, where he flew professionally for 20 years. That experience gave him tremendous customer-level insight into the travel business and an invaluable perspective on labor relations. Mr. Wright is a rare CEO who has previously worked the line as a union member.

In Seattle, Mr. Wright is deeply involved in regional business, arts, and education issues. He regularly weighs in on public policy and events for the Puget Sound Business Journal in his column, Wright on Center.

As a board member of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce of Seattle, he co-chaired the City of Seattle's Income Inequality Advisory Committee, which crafted the city’s phased-in $15-per-hour minimum wage law in 2013. In that position, Mr. Wright successfully educated other stakeholders on the importance of balancing wage growth with the need to keep all businesses viable and maintain Seattle’s image as a pro-business city.

Howard Wright is a graduate of Washington State University and the Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management Program. He currently sits on the Board of Regents at WSU. He lives in Seattle with his wife and son. In his leisure time, he pursues his passion for flight, piloting vintage airplanes to fly-ins up and down the West Coast.

Learn more about Seattle Hospitality Group here.