60 seconds with Mitch Possinger

By CPBJ Staff

Title: Founder and president of Lehigh County-based Cura Hospitality, a regional dining and hospitality-services provider to 70-plus senior living communities in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Personal: Graduate of Muhlenberg College (undergraduate) and Lehigh University (MBA). More than 25 years of experience in dining-service operations, sales, marketing. Married, father of three (one son, two daughters).

What are the pros and cons of doing business in Central PA? Pros: Because of its central location near larger metropolitan areas, Central PA is the ideal location to do business. In addition to being a wonderful, picturesque and popular place for seniors to retire, the area’s economy is strong, the highway systems outstanding, plus Central PA provides a great labor force allowing us to recruit skilled and talented people. Cons: The only con of doing business in Central PA is that at times it’s difficult to recruit hourly staff because unemployment is so low.

What’s the next Big Idea coming at your company or your industry? Providing flexible hospitality and points of dining service to newly retiring baby boomers. Many of these people who choose to move into a senior living community may not be retired and are still very active in their professional and personal lives. For example, we offer lifestyle dining, which offers residents’ flexible options for when and how they dine. Room service, debit and block-meal plans, and all-day dining with no reservations required are other examples of Cura Hospitality's dedication to resident satisfaction.

What trends in your profession do you see in Central PA? With the growing popularity of seniors moving to Central PA, we need to become even more competitive and innovative with program development for seniors, training and education for our people, and to provide additional partnership opportunities with clients ... to help them market their communities to prospective residents and their families.