ATLANTA - Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts
announced the exclusive hotel sponsorship for Count-Me-In for Women's Economic
Independence,
a national non-profit organization that raises money to provide
micro loans to female entrepreneurs. The hotel company pledges
to raise $100,000 to assist the organization in its goal to
create a national loan fund for women in over 75 cities across
the United States. The company will promote the organization
and initiate a fund-raising drive over the next six months among
guests to raise monies that will be used for women's small
business loans.
"We're proud of our association with Count-Me-In; it further supports our commitment to better serve the growing number of female business travelers, many of whom are small business owners themselves," said Robert Mayer, vice president, marketing, Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts.
"The sponsorship provided by Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts allows us unprecedented access to potential contributors in over 75 communities across the country. This grassroots approach to fundraising will greatly benefit women with sound business ideas but limited financial resources," said Nell Merlino, co-founder and CEO, Count-Me-In.
Guests at Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts across North America can drop their contributions into specially marked collection boxes located in hotel lobbies or log onto www.count-me-in.org.
The alliance comes on the heels of a marketing partnership Crowne Plaza formed with the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), providing benefits to its members and sponsorship of an annual achievement award.
Note to editors:
Bass Hotels & Resorts(R) [LON:BAS, NYSE:BAS (ADRs)], the hotel business of Bass PLC of the United Kingdom, operates or franchises more than 3,000 hotels and 490,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories. The following are some of the service marks owned by Bass Hotels & Resorts, Inc., its subsidiaries or affiliates: Holiday Inn(R), Crowne Plaza(R), Holiday Inn Express(R), Holiday Inn Select(R), Holiday Inn Garden CourtSM, Holiday Inn SunSpree(R) Resorts, Staybridge Suites(R) by Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Family SuitesSM Resort , Holidex(R), Priority Club(R) Worldwide, Inter-Continental(R), Forum(R), and Six Continents Club(R). Centra(R) in Canada and Mexico; CentraSM in the U.S.; Parkroyal(R) in the U.S. and Canada; Parkroyal(R) in Mexico.
Bass Hotels & Resorts, Inc. offers information and reservations capability on the Internet - www.basshotels.com, www.interconti.com for Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts, www.crowneplaza.com for Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, www.holiday-inn.com for Holiday Inn hotels, www.hiexpress.com for Holiday Inn Express hotels, www.staybridge.com for Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn, and www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from Bass Hotels & Resorts, visit our new online Press Office at http://www.pressoffice.basshotels.com.
Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence is a national non-profit organization that raises money from people and organizations to be loaned to women. Count Me In is a lending and learning organization dedicated to strengthening women's position in the economy. The concept is straightforward: millions of individuals and corporations across America will be asked -- and inspired -- to contribute a minimum of $5 to Count Me In to create a national loan fund for women. The money will be redistributed to qualifying women in the form of small business loans ranging from $500 to $10,000 and scholarships for business training and technical assistance.
