Indianapolis-based Prime Hospitality Group has named Stacy Hiquet Chief People Officer, its first executive dedicated solely to human resources strategy, talent development, and organizational culture. The move comes as PHG manages simultaneous growth across three distinct hospitality verticals: 13 Ruth's Chris Steak House franchise locations in the Midwest and Southeast, Marriott and forthcoming Hilton hotel properties, and proprietary concepts including The Exchange, Brasserie 23, and Un Deux Trois Café.
Why This Hire Matters
For multi-unit operators running both franchise and independent concepts under one roof, the tension between brand-standard compliance and culture-building is real. PHG's decision to create a dedicated CPO role rather than absorb HR duties into an existing operations or finance structure signals that the company is treating workforce infrastructure as a growth asset, not a back-office function. Kristy Rans, President of Prime Hospitality Group, framed it plainly: investing in leadership infrastructure is essential to long-term success as the portfolio expands.
Hiquet arrives from DuraMark Technologies, where she served as Vice President of Human Resources and Talent Development. Her background spans training, operations, and business leadership — a cross-functional profile that matters in hospitality, where HR leaders who understand operational tempo tend to build more durable retention systems than those who come strictly from corporate generalist roles. She also brings hands-on experience with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a structured leadership framework emphasizing accountability, team alignment, and clear communication — tools that translate directly to multi-location restaurant and hotel management.
What Operators Should Watch
The broader context here is worth noting. Multi-unit hospitality groups operating across franchise agreements and owned concepts face compounding labor complexity: different brand standards, varying union and wage environments by state, and the challenge of maintaining a coherent internal culture when your portfolio spans steakhouse franchises and boutique hotel bars. Formalizing people strategy at the C-suite level is increasingly how mid-market operators — those running 10 to 50 units — are trying to reduce turnover costs and build management pipelines without outsourcing the function entirely.
For vendors and consultants in the operator-intelligence space, a new CPO at a growing multi-unit group is also a procurement signal. HR technology, learning management systems, scheduling platforms, and benefits administration tools all tend to come up for review within the first 12 to 18 months of a new people-leadership appointment. PHG's EOS orientation suggests a preference for structured, system-driven tooling over ad hoc point solutions.
Operators building out brand-launch or franchise-readiness capabilities should also note that PHG's trajectory — owning both franchise agreements with major hotel flags and developing original F&B concepts — requires a talent infrastructure that can flex between brand-compliant execution and entrepreneurial culture-building. That is a harder organizational problem than most single-brand operators face, and it explains why the CPO role lands now rather than earlier in PHG's growth cycle.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
