Donation supports New Shepherd Hotel's hospitality with a purpose

December 16, 2022

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Hospitality with a purpose. That’s what the new Shepherd Hotel in Clemson, South Carolina., is offering. The six-story, boutique hotel focuses on creating a heartwarming guest experience that fosters long-term sustainable and meaningful employment for individuals with intellectual disabilities. It also helps ensure guest comfort and optimized indoor environmental quality (IEQ) with a new highly efficient Trane®/Mitsubishi Electric VRF HVAC system and controls donated by Trane and Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US (METUS)*.

The hotel’s owners work with ClemsonLIFE™ to staff the hotel. This two-year Clemson University collegiate-experience program prepares young men and women with intellectual disabilities for competitive employment and independent living through a combination of academic coursework and career exploration. In addition to classroom instruction on employment skills, the students receive on-site supervision and weekly jobsite performance evaluations. 

The hotel’s owners plan to develop Shepherd Hotels adjacent to college campuses across the country where similar collegiate-experience programs are in place. Owners hope this hotel and others being planned around the country will make a meaningful dent in the nearly 80 percent unemployment rate1 facing persons with disabilities. 

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Within a year or two of opening, owners expect upwards of 30-40 percent of the Shepherd team will be individuals with intellectual disabilities.

“Our hotel opened to rave reviews this fall,” said Rick Hayduk, the hotel’s general manager. “We are so grateful to Trane and METUS for generously supporting our mission and helping make the Shepherd Hotel vision a reality for both guests and employees.”

Carl Wooten, Area Manager for Greenville, South Carolina, and Doug Wadas, System Sales Manager, Greenville, South Carolina, represented Trane at the grand opening celebrations. Both were impressed by the student employees’ enthusiasm. “Their excitement was incredible,” said Wooten. “We are so proud to be able to support this important undertaking that reflects Trane Technologies’ commitment to uplift and engage underrepresented communities throughout their educational journeys.”

 

                                                                                                              

*Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US (METUS) is a company jointly owned by Trane Technologies and Mitsubishi Electric

1 “Persons with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics Summary” Economic News Release, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Feb. 24, 2022