2024 -- H 7709

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LC004318

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

THANKING AND RECOGNIZING DALE J. VENTURINI ON THE OCCASION OF HER

RETIREMENT AS PRESIDENT & CEO OF THE RI HOSPITALITY ASSOCIATION (RIHA)

     Introduced By: Representatives Shekarchi, McEntee, Blazejewski, Caldwell, Cortvriend,
Costantino, Finkelman, Dawson, Chippendale, and Phillips

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2024

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Dale J. Venturini, President & CEO of the RI Hospitality Association

(RIHA), was recruited in 1988. In that capacity, for more than 35 years, she has devoted all her

considerable talents and energy to providing advocacy and strength to one of our State's most

vital industries and the employment of approximately 50,000 workers; and

     WHEREAS, Ms. Venturini is "the official voice of Rhode Island's lodging, restaurant,

and tourism industry." She is rightly credited with expanding the reach and increasing

membership of the RIHA, and with the establishment of the RI Hospitality Education Foundation

(RIHEF) and its Hospitality Training Academy, which have been instrumental in successfully

lobbying and improving the industry's educational and training programs; and

     WHEREAS, During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Venturini led the industry's

comeback, by innovatively dealing with and finding creative solutions to supply-chain issues,

ever-increasing costs, and dramatic declines in the available workforce. Under her leadership,

RIHA "provided financial relief for displaced employees, adapted new training methods, assisted

small businesses with SBA loans, launched a nationally recognized "Be Kind" campaign, and

worked with the Department of Labor and Training on workforce issues" to name but a few of her

myriad accomplishments; and

     WHEREAS, In addition to her work at the RIHA, Venturini is a Rhode Island

Commodore, a past President of the International Society of Restaurant Executives, is a

commissioner of the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, and serves on the boards of the

Providence/Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Newport Preservation Society; and

     WHEREAS, Ms. Venturini has also been a member of the National Restaurant

Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF), the Council of State Restaurant Associations,

Miriam Hospital, the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the Rhode Island Community Food

Bank, the Johnson & Wales University Feinstein Graduate School Advisory Board, the Wm. M.

Davies Jr. Career and Technical High School, the Cranston Redevelopment Agency, the Dean's

Board of Distinguished Counselors to the Alan Shawn Feinstein Graduate School at Johnson &

Wales University, and the 100 Club of Rhode Island, and in 2022, she was honored by the Italo

American Club of Rhode Island as the Person of the Year; and

     WHEREAS, The result of Ms. Venturini's diligent tenure and unparalleled commitment

has generated strength, vitality, and success for RIHA, the hospitality workforce, and the State of

Rhode Island. In February of 2024, she will step down as President & CEO of the RI Hospitality

Association and she will be greatly missed; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

recognizes and thanks Dale Venturini on the occasion of her retirement after thirty-five years of

steadfast service to the people of the State of Rhode Island as President & CEO of the RI

Hospitality Association. We wish her good health, fulfillment and continued success in all her

future endeavors; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Dale J. Venturini.

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LC004318

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