Jake Wurzak is the President at Wurzak Hotel Group. Jake also serves as the company’s in-house counsel and co-general counsel.

Jake has been involved in the family hotel business from a very young age and is passionate about creating hotels and developing hospitality concepts in order to better enhance the guest’s experience. He is primarily focused on the analysis and executions of new acquisitions and dispositions, deal sourcing, new business development and the pursuit of third party management agreements. Jake also plays a key role in working with our brand partners as well as our capital and development partners to help grow the Wurzak Hotel Group. In addition, he leads the purchasing and procurement company, WHG Supply, LLC. Jake is also a member of the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale Board of Governors.

Prior to joining Wurzak Hotel Group Jake worked with The Kor Group in Los Angeles, and Hersha Hospitality Trust in Philadelphia. Jake received his BBA, cum laude, with honors from The University of Miami School of Business. He later earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Nova Southeastern University. Jake also serves as partner in Dove Hill Holdings, LLC, a real estate investment firm. Jake is a member of the Florida Bar.

Mike Bowman is a 30-year veteran of the hospitality and gaming industries, having worked in several senior level positions for Hilton Hotels, Wyndham Worldwide, Rush Gaming and Caesars Entertainment. He was recently named President of the Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board (VFCTB). Previously he served as chairman of the Board of Directors for the organization. Prior to that, he was President and CEO of Valley Forge Casino Resort, responsible for all gaming, entertainment, hotel, food & beverage, and convention business — along with all strategic gaming operations and marketing and managing a staff of 1001 employees. He has achieved numerous hospitality industry accolades. Twice he has been awarded Caesar’s annual top leadership award and Manager of the Year for Wyndham Worldwide, while being responsible for all property operations in the Caribbean and northeast hotel resorts. He maintains active involvement in several community service organizations including the Jewish Community Center of Margate. In addition, Bowman has partnered professionally and personally with organizations such as the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, the Asian Heritage Festival and Mission Kids. He also works with various charities and homeless advocacy support groups in the area. Professionally he maintains a presence on the Valley Forge Casino Resort board of directors, reporting to Ira Lubert of Lubert Adler Real Estate Funds. He is also a board member of Upper Merion’s Board of Community Assistance and chairman of the board for Peddler’s Village in Bucks County. In addition, he serves as an executive board member for the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau and most recently was appointed to the board of the Montgomery County Development Corporation. A graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, he and his wife, Karen, reside in New Jersey with their two daughters, Oksana and Anastasia.

It’s hard to believe now, but in 1971 when Meryl Levitz moved to Philadelphia from Chicago, the City of Philadelphia was a place people stopped by to check out the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall while en route to another destination.

From her first days in Philadelphia, Levitz saw her new hometown’s promise. And in 1996, Philadelphia’s mayor (Ed Rendell), Pennsylvania’s governor (Tom Ridge) and the president and CEO of The Pew Charitable Trusts (Rebecca Rimel) came together to test the region’s potential as a vibrant visitor destination. They launched an effort to find leadership for a grant-funded, three-year experiment: the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, known today as VISIT PHILADELPHIA.

The search led them to Levitz, who, in 1996, became the founding president and CEO of VISIT PHILADELPHIA. At the time, many thought she was taking on an impossible task—to get people to visit Philly for fun, to change how Philadelphians talked about their home and to build the image of what was essentially a new product: Philadelphia. Although Philadelphia was late to the marketing game, Levitz accepted the challenge and by 1999—with the help of city and state legislators and the city’s hoteliers—secured permanent funding that came from an increased hotel tax.

Under her leadership, Philadelphia and the surrounding Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties have become a top-rated travel destination. VISIT PHILADELPHIA created a new market for Philadelphia—people who choose to visit the city for pleasure—and developed that market into an important revenue generator for the entire five-county region. In 2016 alone, the region welcomed a record 42 million domestic visitors—88% of whom visited for leisure purposes—and the industry generated $11 billion in economic impact.

Philly is now seen as a fun place with so much to see and do, but Levitz has worked for more than four decades to help others realize that. In 1978, she co-founded the Center City Proprietors Association. Later, as the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau’s director of tourism, she oversaw the opening of the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing in 1986 and developed annual celebrations, including Jambalaya Jam, River Blues and Yo! Philadelphia. She also co-directed the opening of the Pennsylvania Convention Center in 1993 and the Reading Terminal Trainshed in 1994.

Naveen Kakarla is the President and Chief Executive Officer and also on the Board of Directors

of HHM, which manages over 120 hotels in the Northeast, Florida, and California. These hotels

range from three to five star properties in urban and leisure resort destinations.

Naveen is responsible for HHM’s investment and fund management, acquisitions and

development, finance and accounting, human resources, and capital projects. He prior led

HHM’s New York City region and also oversaw its construction and technical services division.

Prior to joining Hersha in 2005, Naveen worked with a private equity firm and its portfolio

companies on early stage investments and "roll ups" in various industries. Naveen had been an

active real estate investor in the multifamily space prior to joining Hersha.

Outside the real estate sector, Naveen was previously a partner specializing in corporate and

securities law at the national law firm of Jenkens & Gilchrist, P.C., and was previously associated

with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer Feld, LLP in Washington D.C. Naveen earned a Bachelor of Arts

from Austin College and a law degree from Cornell Law School.