Waterstone Is Now a Talent-Based Organization
In 2022, Waterstone made a commitment to its talent, bringing in new leadership to guide the company to blue ocean opportunities in retail and healthcare. We welcomed as our chief operating officer Gerard van Grinsven, a transformational leader who opened 72 hotels with Ritz Carlton before becoming the CEO of Henry Ford Hospital and then the Cancer Treatments Centers of America (CTCA).
To supercharge the company’s growth within healthcare, Waterstone added Ben Gray as chief administration officer and James Jago as chief investment officer. Ben is a seasoned professional with more than 15 years of experience in real estate, private equity and corporate transactions. He was most recently a senior partner at Quartz Lake Capital and previously managing director/general counsel at Bentall Greek Oak. James brings more than 17 years of diverse real estate and corporate transactional experience, most recently as a partner at Pebb Capital. Prior to Pebb, James worked at private equity fund manager Green Courte Partners in Chicago.
These three have brought a renewed energy to the company and we are extremely excited about their positive impact on Waterstone.
Under Gerard’s leadership, Waterstone has focused intently on the customer and the guest experience, adopting best practices from the hospitality sector. Recognizing that our employees are our most important customers, Waterstone engaged Talent Plus to help identify, develop, and retain top talent.
Talent Plus helps organizations create a culture of development and continuous learning, providing tools and resources to help employees grow and reach their full potential. The Talent Plus Method is a system used by several of the top hospitality brands such as Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, The Capella Group, as well as healthcare systems. With the support of Talent Plus, Waterstone is focused on creating an environment where employees can thrive by investing in their natural talents and putting them in positions to succeed.
Through this process, we have assembled a talented team, including Steve Yuen, director of marketing for Rock Row, Jennifer Aubin-Murphy and Lynda Adams to drive the guest experience at our flagship properties in New Hampshire and Maine.