Newly Constructed Orthodox Certified Kosher Kitchens Will Fill Need for High-Level Kosher Meals At Rosen Plaza® and Greater Orlando Area

For more information, contact:
Robert Hubler
(407) 639-4212, rhubler@RosenHotels.com

ORLANDO (Feb. 18, 2015) — Harris Rosen, President & COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts®, announced plans today to create a kosher catering service at Rosen Plaza® hotel, one of three award-winning Rosen convention hotels and one of seven total Rosen properties in Orlando. The new venture will include the building of two new, certified orthodox kosher kitchens at the hotel. The new kitchens will open in fall 2015 to service individual guests and groups at Rosen Plaza®, as well as to provide kosher catering for all seven Rosen Hotels & Resorts® and catering for other groups, banquets and events in the vicinity of the Orange County Convention Center and greater Orlando.

To ensure that kosher law is followed at the new kitchens, Rosen Plaza® has partnered with Rabbi Yosef Konikov, RCF-Orthodox Rabbinate of Central Florida, Inc. who will consult on all aspects of the new kitchens. The hotel also will employ a full-time mashgiach, a supervisor and single key holder of the kitchens, who will provide mashgiach temidi, or constant supervision, of all activities there.

“With the new catering service supported by the kosher kitchens at Rosen Plaza®, we will fill a current void in the Orlando meetings and convention industry, particularly in the convention center area, for high-quality certified orthodox kosher meals,” said Rosen. “We aim to meet and exceed the needs of every guest at our hotels, so we are honored to be able to take the necessary steps to meet the needs of our visitors from the Jewish community.”

While there are several “kosher-style” establishments in Orlando that serve traditional Jewish foods, the kosher kitchens at Rosen Plaza® will meet the strict requirements of certified orthodox kitchens in terms of equipment and types of foods served, as well as food sourcing, storage, handling, preparation, and more, according to kashrut, Jewish dietary law. One will feature glatt kosher, the highest level of kosher meat, and another Cholov Yisroel kosher, a designation for kosher milk and dairy. The kitchens will be newly constructed within Rosen Plaza® and will feature only brand new materials including appliances, equipment and utensils.

“I applaud Mr. Rosen for his commitment to supporting this endeavor to meet the needs of Jewish visitors and the greater Orlando Jewish community,” said Rabbi Konikov. “This is a necessity that has been missing from our area until now, and I am happy to partner with Rosen Hotels & Resorts® to ensure that they are able to create and maintain a high level kosher kitchen at Rosen Plaza®.”
Harris Rosen and the Harris Rosen Foundation have long been supporters of the Jewish community. In 2008, Rosen supplied $5.5 million to build the Jack & Lee Rosen Southwest Jewish Community Center in Orlando. In 2014, the Harris Rosen Foundation pledged $1 million in matching funds toward a capital campaign to substantially reduce debt on the Roth Family JCC of Greater Orlando. In addition, the Harris Rosen Foundation provides ongoing support to numerous community partners including the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida, the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, Central Florida Hillel, Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando and the Jewish National Fund

For more information, visit www.rosenplaza.com

For more information, contact:
Robert Hubler
(407) 639-4212, rhubler@RosenHotels.com

ORLANDO (March 11, 2015) – Rosen Hotels & Resorts® is proud to announce that it has been named a Gold Fit-Friendly Worksite by the American Heart Association. This marks the 5th year that the Orlando-based independent hotel group has received this distinction.

To receive the gold level award, Rosen Hotels & Resorts® fulfilled “key criteria” and demonstrated a “strong commitment to providing a healthy workplace for employees.” As an American Heart Association Fit-Friendly Worksite, Rosen Hotels & Resorts® will receive recognition on the association’s website and local recognition at events and in communications materials. The hotel group also will be able to use the Fit-Friendly Worksite Gold Seal on its communications. Its associates may also take advantage of free tools such as the American Heart Association’s online Activity Tracker.

The honor is just one of many bestowed upon Rosen Hotels & Resorts® for its commitment to better health for its 4,600 associates and dependents. For more than 20 years, Rosen Hotels & Resorts® has offered an innovative, in-house healthcare program for associates and dependents. In recent years, it added to that plan all students from the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. In November 2014, the hotel group partnered with Wal-Mart to provide free generic prescriptions for those covered on its in-house plan. And, in 2012, the hotel group opened a brand new associate medical facility, The Rosen Medical Center, A Place for Healing and Wellness, located on International Drive.

“We are honored that the American Heart Association has once again recognized Rosen Hotels & Resorts® for our commitment to the health and well-being of our associates and their families,” said Harris Rosen, President & COO, Rosen Hotels & Resorts®. “We hope that our in-house healthcare model is an inspiration to other companies and individuals who want to take control of their greatest asset – their own health and that of their associates.”

Features of Rosen Hotels & Resorts®’ associate healthcare program include an array of free preventative care opportunities such as annual physicals, comprehensive screening lab tests, well-baby care, pregnancy case management, weight management and dietician services, smoking cessation, flu shots and vaccines, mental health benefits, as well as exercise programs, classes and fitness groups.

For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com.

Rosen Builds on Success of Tangelo Park Project with Free Preschool and College Education for Parramore Neighborhood Children

For more information, contact:
Robert Hubler
407-639-4212, rhubler@RosenHotels.com

ORLANDO (Feb. 6, 2015) – For the past 21 years, Orlando hotelier and philanthropist Harris Rosen has provided residents of Orlando’s Tangelo Park disadvantaged neighborhood with free preschool for their children, free college or vocational school for every graduating high school senior, and a neighborhood center offering free parenting classes. Since then, high school graduation rates have soared from 52% to 90%, and to date, more than 280 young people have attended college or vocational school, up from just one or two per year in the 1990s. Now, Rosen has announced that he will offer a very similar education program for residents of Parramore, an underprivileged community located west of downtown Orlando.

Rosen has partnered with Orange County Public Schools to offer a free preschool program at a brand new $41.3 million public school in Parramore. When the school opens in August 2017, it will serve approximately 800 to 900 students in preschool through eighth grade. Two-, three-, and four-year-old children will be able to attend the preschool at no cost, with teacher salaries paid for by the Harris Rosen Foundation. Plans for the school include up to 24 preschool classrooms designed to accommodate up to 12 children each. The current supervisor of the Tangelo Park preschool program, Patti Jo Houle, will also oversee the new program at Parramore.

And, much like the Tangelo Park Program, all those who attend the new public elementary and middle school and go on to graduate from Jones High School will receive a free two or four-year college or vocational school education, also paid by the Harris Rosen Foundation. The free tuition offer includes all associated costs, including meals, books and transportation. Rosen estimates the new program will eventually cost his foundation approximately $4.5 million per year. By comparison, the Tangelo Park Program costs approximately $1.5 million per year.

“QUOTE,” said Barbara Jenkins, Superintendent of Orange County Public Schools.

The new Parramore program is also supported by Valencia Community College and the University of Central Florida (UCF). Dr. Dale Whittaker, provost of UCF, announced that the university will provide scholarships for a four-year degree to the school’s College of Medicine to any student who attends the new Parramore school, graduates from Jones High School and finishes an undergraduate program at UCF.

“I am so pleased to see the Orlando community come together in support of the young people in the Parramore neighborhood,” said Harris Rosen, President & COO, Rosen Hotels & Resorts®. “This new partnership proves that the successful program we created in Tangelo Park 21 years ago can indeed be duplicated and adapted to fit the specific needs and assets of any community. I hope that these Rosen Foundation programs will serve as an inspiration to other businesses, school districts and universities, and empower them to create positive change in their neighborhoods here in Central Florida and throughout America.”

The new 14-acre Parramore campus also will include a separate building for an onsite Boys & Girls Club, helping students to stay on track with homework and stay out of trouble after school.
Harris Rosen recently received the 2015 Coretta Scott King A.N.G.E.L. (Advancing Nonviolence through Generations of Exceptional Leadership) Award at the King Center in Atlanta. Rosen was recognized for his more than 20 year commitment to the Tangelo Park Program, a three-fold educational community service initiative within the once drug- and crime-ridden Tangelo Park neighborhood of Orlando.

About Rosen Hotels & Resorts®
Located in Orlando, Fla., Rosen Hotels & Resorts® comprises nearly 6,500 guest rooms at seven hotels: three convention and leisure properties – Rosen Plaza®, Rosen Centre® and Rosen Shingle Creek®, as well as four value-priced leisure properties – Rosen Inn International; Rosen Inn Closest to Universal; Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando; and Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista. For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com.

Orlando Hotelier and Philanthropist Harris Rosen Awarded Coretta Scott King A.N.G.E.L. Award by The King Center, Atlanta

For more information, contact:
Robert Hubler,
(407) 639-4212, rhubler@RosenHotels.com

For photography, visit http://www.rosenhotels.com

ORLANDO (Jan. 23, 2015) – Orlando hotelier and philanthropist Harris Rosen, President & COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts®, received the Coretta Scott King A.N.G.E.L. Award at the 32nd Annual Salute to Greatness Awards Dinner presented by The King Center in Atlanta. The King Center, formally known as The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, was established in 1968 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King. The awards ceremony took place on Jan. 17, 2015 (in observance of the late Dr. King’s 86th birthday) at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta.

The awards event recognized just four honorees. The Salute to Greatness Award, one of the King Center’s highest honors, was awarded to former President Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, and to Bernard J. Tyson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente. The Coretta Scott King A.N.G.E.L. (Advancing Nonviolence through Generations of Exceptional Leadership) Award was given to Harris Rosen and to Aidan Thomas Hornaday, founder of the Aidan Cares Foundation. The award is given in honor of and in keeping with the spirit of the late Coretta Scott King and recognizes a youth or young adult and a youth organization/initiative which exemplifies exceptional leadership in the areas of peace, social justice and nonviolent social change. The honor was established and awarded for the first time in 2013.

Rosen was being recognized for his more than 20 year commitment to the Tangelo Park Program, a three-fold educational community service initiative within the once drug- and crime-ridden Tangelo Park neighborhood of Orlando. In 1992, as Rosen was planning his seventh property, Rosen Shingle Creek, he was struck with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for his many blessings and decided it was time to give back to his community. By 1993, he had created the Tangelo Park Program, a personally funded concept. His innovative program provides free preschool for every two-, three-, and four-year-old child living in the neighborhood and a full community college or four-year college, or a vocational or technical school scholarship for every graduating high school senior. In addition, the program provides a Neighborhood Center for Families where parents can take parenting courses and obtain counseling and other resources to help them become positive role models for their children.

When Rosen created the Tangelo Park Program, the community’s high school dropout rate was 43 percent higher than the national average. Not long after the program began, high school graduation rates soared with an almost zero dropout rate. To date, more than 280 young people have now attended college or vocational school.
“I am so honored that the Tangelo Park Program has been recognized by The King Center and I am truly humbled to receive an award given in the spirit of Mrs. Coretta Scott King,” said Rosen. “I will be happy to accept the honor on behalf of the Tangelo Park community and especially all of the youngsters who have worked so hard over the past 20 years to better themselves through the gift of education.”

Established in 1968 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (“The King Center”) has been a global destination, resource center and community institution for over a quarter century. Nearly a million people each year make pilgrimage to the National Historic Site to learn, be inspired and pay their respects to Dr. King’s legacy.
Both a traditional memorial and programmatic nonprofit, the King Center was envisioned by its founder to be “no dead monument, but a living memorial filled with all the vitality that was his, a center of human endeavor, committed to the causes for which he lived and died.” That vision was carried out through educational and community programs until Mrs. King’s retirement in the mid-1990s, and today it is being revitalized.

Celebrating more than 40 years in business, Rosen Hotels & Resorts comprises nearly 6,500 guest rooms at seven Orlando hotels: three convention properties – Rosen Plaza®, Rosen Centre® and Rosen Shingle Creek®, as well as four value-priced leisure properties – Rosen Inn International; Rosen Inn, closest to Universal; Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando; and Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista. For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com.

Forty years ago, with a single hotel and a dream, Harris Rosen changed Orlando’s meetings landscape forever.