A Manhattan-based staffing agency is expanding to Chicago with plans to address the lack of trained workers in the city’s hotels, restaurants and event management companies.
HMG+ will open an event staffing, training and recruiting hub in Fulton Market this June at 1621 W. Walnut St. The hub, on the building’s top floor, aims to fill the labor gap that still lingers in the hospitality industry after the pandemic.
The hospitality industry was hit especially hard by the pandemic, when a global halt in travel cut hotel occupancy levels and restaurant visits. Years later, the industry still hasn’t bounced back to pre-pandemic numbers. Chicago was the only top 10 U.S. hotel market to record year-over-year declines in hotel occupancy, average daily rate, and revenue per available room in January, according to the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association. Chicago restaurant jobs are also down 7.7% from February 2020, according to the Illinois Restaurant Association.
HMG+ is hoping to change that by training hospitality workers to provide memorable experiences, said Michael DiPeri, the company’s founder and CEO. The Chicago hub will also work with clients to coach their current employees, he said. HMG+ targets catering facilities, restaurants, hotels and other businesses that need training for front-of-house service. The firm designs and curates custom programs for its clients. The agency works with large companies, such as Disney and Warner Brothers, on events.
“Whether it’s two people sitting down for dinner on a Friday night, or a date night, or a huge celebration, it’s something that we live for. You live for your vacation, and the vacation is hospitality,” DiPeri said. “We want to bring that to Chicago — and hopefully, nationally — and just turn the paradigm shift to this being a true profession. What we do is important.”
Within its first year, HMG+ says it expects to help fill 200 hospitality jobs to soften the industry’s labor shortage. Jobs will include hostesses, servers, bartenders, ambassadors, promotional staff and reception services. Individuals who complete training at HMG+ can stay on as employees, or the firm’s recruitment arm may pair them with an open position in the industry.
HMG+ President Karen DiPeri said the firm also plans to host industry events in the space, including panels. Sharing ideas and resources among the industry is what will help hospitality get back to 100% staffed, she said. About 3.5 million workers left the hospitality industry by the end of 2020, according to the Economic Policy Institute, many of them service workers.
“The restaurant community is such a community,” said Michael DiPeri. “'[The hub] is going to be a gathering place to share ideas — the think tank for the hospitality industry.”
Karen and Michael DiPeri, who are married, have been eyeing a Chicago expansion for years. The Manhattan-based couple have visited Chicago many times and describe the local hotel and restaurant scenes as “amazing experiences.”
The timing finally made sense for HMG+’s expansion because Sam Euler, the firm’s senior manager of talent acquisition and an Oak Park native, wanted to move back to the Chicago area. Euler will spearhead the Chicago office opening.
The DiPeris looked at about 30 potential locations for the Chicago hub before settling on Fulton Market. They “jumped on the chance” to lease 3,600 square feet at the Walnut Street location, Karen DiPeri said. She said Fulton Market — with its exposed brick interiors and warehousing roots — felt very similar to Tribeca, where the company started in New York City. The neighborhood is increasingly becoming a hub for designers, tech companies and young workers.
“We gravitated to Fulton Market primarily because it seemed like a hospitality-dense location with bakers and caterers and event spaces,” Karen DiPeri said. “That whole vibe down there just felt really right.”
Chicago is HMG+’s first expansion out of its New York City headquarters. But the hospitality firm is already eyeing more growth, with Boston and Washington, D.C., among potential future markets.