Sept. 15, 2025

This piece is sponsored by The Ramkota Companies.

From a shared Sioux Falls home base and decades of common history, two hospitality companies support one another in their growth.

To put it simply: “Anything we build or buy, they manage,” said Josh Schmaltz, president and CEO of hotel owner The Ramkota Companies.

It has been that way since 1993 when Regency Hotel Management was formed side by side at Ramkota’s headquarters after supporting management internally for decades prior. While Ramkota became fully employee-owned in 2023, “it’s important to know and understand that on paper we’re two different entities now, but we operate as one,” Schmaltz said.

“We are still very much a partnership and committed to working with Regency.”

Both entities have grown significantly over time and see continued potential to do more. Regency, which totals about 45 employees on its corporate team in Sioux Falls, now owns three companies nationwide with more than 100 hotel properties under management.

Of those, “it fluctuates with buying and selling, but typically between 40 and 55 properties we’re managing are Ramkota,” said Tom Biegler, Regency president and CEO. “Other than signing the mortgage, we’re involved from day one.”

He began his career at 17 working as a bellman in Aberdeen at a Ramkota-owned Sheraton in 1977.

“So I have literally been part of this organization in one way, shape or form since they had two hotels,” he said. “What they do really well is prioritize product over profitability. That’s a big deal as a management company. They’ve never shorted the properties on what they need, and that’s what’s kept us all here so long. We deal with a lot of companies that don’t have this philosophy, and then there’s constant turnover.”

Regency is crucial in ensuring that daily operations and the behind-the-scenes work it takes to manage a hotel are executed at a high level, Schmaltz said.

“When we buy a new hotel, they are the transition team,” he said. “We’ve sold off some of our portfolio in recent years, and now we’re building back up and switching gears. Every step of the way, Regency is beside us as we start to grow again or look at new assets.”

While employees at Ramkota properties are Ramkota employees — and many are eligible to join its ESOP — they’re overseen by Regency.

“It fluctuates based on seasonality, but in total, we’re overseeing anywhere from 4,800 to 7,200 employees across all the hotels we manage,” Biegler said.

Regency works with the team on guest service, training and back-end functions such as human resources and accounting.

“They share our vision,” Schmaltz said. “Even though our employees are not their employees, it’s all part of the same team. They share the vision in maintaining the quality of assets we have and the quality of employees. They treat our employees like their employees. It’s not a contractual obligation for them — they treat our properties and our team like they’re their own.”

Regency also has grown as its own company, acquiring Sioux Falls-based ROI Hospitality in 2019 and Atlanta-based CUSA in 2024.

“We do everything. An owner can sign their name on the dotted line, and everything else can be up to us,” Biegler said. “They can be as involved as they want, but there’s also nothing an owner needs to do related to operating a hotel after hiring us.”

By using a third-party vendor, owners save on overhead from hiring an in-house team and enjoy best-in-class operations thanks to Regency’s industry-leading approach.

“Our team is always looking to incorporate technology to fill gaps and improve service,” Biegler said. “For instance, remote check-ins and phone access as a key to hotel rooms is getting to be more and more the norm as customers aren’t interested in going to a front desk and getting a key card. So that’s one thing we’ve adapted a lot.”

Proactively, Regency acquired a software system called Koko in 2023 that allows its team to enter geo-located work orders for anything from needed repairs to guest complaints. The issues are logged, tracked and closed out as they are resolved.

“It’s a really cool system that allows us to track and manage operations, with unlimited video and photographs we can upload. We literally have a detailed snapshot of the entire building and know what’s behind every door, window and wall, which allows us to ensure we’re addressing any issues in a timely manner and maintaining our equipment to get the most life out of it,” Biegler said. “It’s something no one in the industry has.”

The commitment to leveraging technology also reflects how Regency values allowing its core team members to devote time to serving hotels and their guests in other impactful ways.

“Keeping our core staff is huge, and we do that by making sure people are treated the way you’d want to be treated,” Biegler said. “Our culture, in my estimation, is outstanding, and I think anyone in our employ would tell you the same thing. It’s people first for us and property first for Ramkota, which goes perfectly hand in hand.”

To learn more about Ramkota properties managed by Regency Hotel Management, visit here.