Hotel manager's roots harken to Greeley's past

Chris Casey, (Bio) ccasey@greeleytrib.com
April 9, 2008

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Some things don't change. Like the thick fingers a guy gets from shucking corn.

Other things can, like the thin nightlife scene in a sleepy downtown district.

The former is part of Scott Holm's past, while the latter figures squarely in his future.

Holm is the new general manager of the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, formerly the Regency Hotel, in downtown Greeley.

His business strategy: Entice the three segments of Greeley's consumer base -- residents, University of Northern Colorado students and Stampede-goers -- to the city's only full-service hotel.

Holm, 39, plans to do that by opening a sports bar and grill, drumming up new conference business and launching a high-end restaurant.

Two generations of family preceded Scott Holm's arrival in northern Colorado. They came with their own business strategy: Work. Hard.

That's where the plump fingers come in.

"My dad is 77 and he still wears a size 13 ring finger from shucking corn, and he's a little guy," said Holm, sitting in his office at the Clarion.

Jim Holm, who recently followed Scott to Colorado from Florida, is still at work himself. He's the pastor at Broadview Park Church of God in Greeley.

Jim's father, Axel Holm, a native of Sweden, joined the wave of immigrants in the early 1900s. Europeans seeking work in the land of opportunity.

"When he came here, the only phrase (Axel) knew was, 'I'll have one of those, too,' " Scott Holm said. "That way he could actually eat."

Axel arrived as Axel Hendrickson, but changed his surname to Holm -- his native city in Sweden -- because so many Hendricksons populated the Midwestern town in which he first settled. Axel lived in Minnesota and South Dakota before finding his way to Greeley. He'd met his wife, Marie, in the U.S. and they ventured to the foot of the Rockies to farm.

"They got their money sharecropping," Scott Holm said. "... They saved enough money they were able to buy the farm in Scottsbluff (Neb.), sometime between 1915 and 1920. It was sugar beets, corn -- all the stuff you'd do out here."

So Jim grew up shucking corn in a family chockfull of farmers and ministers. He became a pastor, as did a few brothers and one of his three sons.

Scott, however, heard the calling of hotels rather than the cloth.

He was born in Missouri, and a year later the family moved to Florida. He grew up in swamp country and spent most of his professional life -- including a five-year stint in advertising -- in major East Coast cities.

Three years ago -- tired of the hurricanes, traffic and urban sprawl in Tampa, Fla. -- he took a management job at one of Colorado's landmark hotels.

Scott recalled first seeing the alabaster columns of the Stanley Hotel when his family gathered for a reunion in Estes Park when he was 11.

"I fell in love with Colorado," he said. "Estes Park was very near and dear to me, so I've come out many times."

After two years at the Stanley, Scott, wanting to manage a full-service hotel on the Front Range, discovered that the Regency was changing hands.

The Stanley and the now-Clarion are remarkably similar in size, he said. The Clarion has 148 rooms to the Stanley's 138, and it has the same amount of conference space.

"It's very similar, actually -- just no elk poop," Scott said with a chuckle.

He's well aware of Greeley's struggle to shake off its sleepiness. He's hoping The Den Sports Bar and Grill, set to open full of Greeley and UNC memorabilia on April 18, will push downtown's vibrancy meter. Next year, he plans to open a 40-seat fine-dining restaurant, featuring gourmet game and fresh Florida seafood.

"I think Greeley is a great place to live. I think there's a lot of potential here," Scott said. "...There's a lot of stigma (to Greeley), but everything can be changed."

The new owners are putting $2 million of renovations into the hotel. Scott is confident the investment plus his salesmanship savvy -- he guided the Stanley to its best-ever winter sales mark in 2006 -- will give the hotel new wings.

For extra measure, he recruited several members of the Stanley management team to join him at the Clarion.

"We're all pretty thrilled to be here," he said. "We've all come from bigger markets. I'd rather be here than anywhere else."

The Den, which is the hotel's street-side welcome mat, is meant to have a "down-home Greeley" feel.

Scott is cultivating a sense of hospitality in the town that helped the Holm family -- two generations ago -- establish a sense of home.

Feel free to stroll into The Den and say, "I'll have one of those, too."

Chris Casey is a reporter at The Tribune. He covers immigration, diversity and higher education. His column runs on Wednesdays. To reach him, e-mail ccasey@greeleytribune.com or call (970) 392-5623.