South Carolina Hotel to Offer Case Study for Hiring Workers With Disabilities
Photo Caption: When the Shepherd Hotel opens in South Carolina, it will employ dozens of workers with intellectual disabilities like Down syndrome. Source: The Shepherd Hotel.
Skift Take
Many travel companies want to foster a workforce where everyone, regardless of circumstances, can thrive. But many companies wonder how to go about doing this. The example of The Shepherd Hotel in Clemson, South Carolina, suggests one path.
The Shepherd Hotel will open in downtown Clemson, South Carolina, with a commitment that's unusual among hotels. It plans to employ dozens of people with intellectual disabilities, many diagnosed with Down syndrome.
The 67-room hotel — officially opening in September but soft-launching this July — will be an independent boutique property. It has partnered with a Clemson University training program to hire 40 individuals with intellectual disabilities — making up about 40 percent of the property's staff.
Rick Hayduk is spearheading the new hotel, his first brand built from scratch. Hayduk has decades of hospitality experience. Blackstone, the real estate investing giant, previously hired him as president of the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Florida and as the managing director of its South Seas Island Resort and the Inns of Sanibel.
Hayduk also has a personal interest in the project. One of his daughters, Jamison, has Down syndrome, as does one son, Abe. Another daughter, who graduated from Clemson, told him about a two-year training curriculum calle
