During COVID-19 , the Rhode Island Hospitality Association transitioned from a membership organization to servicing the entire industry for free , including 4,000 hospitality-focused businesses in Rhode Island , to make sure they were updated on the ever-evolving rules and regulations and receiving the help they desperately needed .
Venturini and the Rhode Island Hospitality Association team started several awareness campaigns , including providing access to free mental health resources for hospitality employees , the # BYOBlanket project to encourage outdoor dining in cooler weather and the Please Be Kind campaign . When they heard restaurant workers were being treated poorly by guests , they designed and distributed posters that read , “ We are experiencing a staff shortage .
We ask that you please be kind and patient with the staff that are working .” The campaign gained exposure in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and word spread across the nation through the Associated Press .
For every project , the team is credited . “ She never ever says so and so works for me . She ’ s always said that people work with her ,” says Heather Singleton , RIHA ’ s chief operating officer and Venturini ’ s longest-running employee since 1997 , when she was still a graduate student at Johnson and Wales University .
Their Hospitality Employee Relief Fund raised more than $ 200,000 in grants for hospitality employees who lost their jobs at the height of the pandemic shutdown . Once the state reopened and business owners had trouble finding staff to fill vacant roles , they created a jobs database and recruited workers through social media and community outreach . And now that the hospitality industry has rebounded and restrictions are lifted , the fund has been redirected to help workers who have suffered unexpected financial hardship as a result of an injury , illness , death of an immediate family member , disaster or other form of crisis , including someone who recently suffered a brain tumor .
Venturini is lobbying for more hospitality relief , especially for businesses that missed out on funding the first time around . A recent Salve Regina University study commissioned by the RIHA revealed a loss of $ 2.2 billion last year from the state ’ s hospitality and tourism industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic , representing a 30 percent drop from the previous year . RIHA worked with the National Restaurant Association and fifty other state restaurant associations to send a letter to Congress sharing the results of another national study and urging replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund . Rhode Island has more than 1,523 pending applications that total more than $ 208,933,000 in funding . Separately , they lobbied with the American Hotel and Lodging Association for direct federal stimulus for the state ’ s 230 hotels still suffering from 2020 profit losses , especially Providence , which is down 52 percent in revenue per available hotel room from July 2021 as compared to July 2019 .
Venturini opts for a modest office space in the ’ burbs rather than downtown Providence , which has allowed the association to hire more staff . In 2006 , the headquarters moved to a converted house in Cranston that once hid the 1930s speakeasy that became the iconic Twin Oaks Italian-American restaurant . During Prohibition , William DeAngelus Sr . cooked Italian for his speakeasy guests , and it grew into the restaurant now sited across the parking lot .
“ My office used to be in grandmama ’ s bedroom ,” Venturini says with a laugh . “ There ’ s a little button that she used to call down when the cops would come for everyone to put stuff away .” It was their May Day alert so the bootleggers wouldn ’ t get busted , but there ’ s no button Venturini can push to rescue restaurants and hotels . She has to step up with the staff and get the job done .
The proximity of the Rhode Island Hospitality Association office to Twin Oaks is no coincidence . The son of the original owner , William DeAngelus Jr ., was one of three restaurant owners who revamped the organization from a fledgling restaurant association that started in 1963 . >>
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l DECEMBER 2021 43