Tony Tupek ’05
Two men who now both run prominent hotels in the Erie region share a number of connections, starting with their Mercyhurst hospitality degrees. When Tony Tupek interned at the Grifin Gate Marriott in Lexington, Kentucky, his boss was fellow Mercyhurst grad Dan Pora (see profle below). Tony says Dan was a fantastic manager and mentor to him as he moved up through the ranks at Marriott. He also became a close friend and was a groomsman when Tony and his wife, Stacy, were married three Today, Tony is the hotel general manager at Peek ‘n Peak resort in Clymer, New York; Dan manages the Sheraton Erie Bayfront Hotel; and Stacy manages the Courtyard by Marriott Erie years ago.
North East before heading to the Erie campus, drawn by both the hospitality program and the baseball team. He says he’s grateful to all the faculty, counselors and coaches he worked with. He especially credits Daryl Georger, noting “Without that constant excitement instilled in me to want to learn more about the art of taking care of people, I can say I wouldn’t be where I am today.” He’s also grateful to head baseball coach Joe Spano, who “set the precedent for hard work, practice and 100 percent dedication on what I’m doing to help me succeed not only on the diamond, but in the many He got his foot in the door with a job as bellman at the Grifn Gate Marriott and then, over about three years, worked in every facet of the resort’s operation. Moving to a Marriott Key Center Cleveland hotel in 2008, he worked as front ofce manager and also as food and beverage supervisor. When his challenges ahead in life.”
father fell ill in 2011, Tony returned to Erie, becoming guest service manager at Erie Courtyard by Marriott and later restaurant manager at Safari Bar and Today he’s hotel general manager at Peek ‘n Peak Resort in Clymer, New York, a four-star all-season resort owned by Scott Enterprises. With his Grille. wife also active in the industry, she understands the long hours he puts in each day as well as the unpredictable events he faces. “With 20-plus years of combined experience, we’ve got enough stories that we could write our Tony plays each summer in the wooden-bat Glenwood Baseball League. An avid collector of sports cards and memorabilia since childhood, he’s now able to display his collectibles in the Tupeks’ sports- own book together,” he says.
Bayfront next to the Sheraton.
An Erie native, Tony earned an associate degree from Mercyhurst
themed basement.
Dan Pora ’96
Dan Pora was a cook at Erie’s Holland Dairy Queen all through high school, and knew he loved culinary work and restaurant management. So his boss, Mercyhurst alum Jack Holland Jr., wrote a letter of recommendation for him to the relatively young hospitality program at this alma mater. He The best things about the program, he says now, were the investment that teachers made in their students to make sure they were set up for success and how well career services worked enrolled in 1992.
Beach, Missouri, opened the door to his frst job – as restaurant manager at the 1,400-room Philadelphia Downtown Convention Center Marriott. In 2000 he moved across the street to open a brand-new 500-room Marriott as food From 2001 to 2007, he worked at the Grifn Gate Resort and Spa, a Marriott golf resort in Kentucky, half the time as director of food and beverage, the other half as director of rooms. He also brought many Mercyhurst students to intern at Grifn Gate. “It felt good to give back to Mercyhurst and do for the and beverage manager. students what others had done for me,” he explains. Several of those interns worked for him later, including Tony
Tupek (see profle above).
named White Lodging Hotel of the Year in 2015, and customer service reviews ranked his hotel #1 among all Sheratons for the past two years. He still brings in interns from Mercyhurst, adding, “They’ve always been great.” Dan’s wife, Deborah, is a nurse practitioner at UPMC Hamot. Their daughter Madeline is a freshman at West Virginia University, while Mackenzie’s in 10 th grade and son Appropriately, his hobbies include traveling and cooking, and he serves on the board for tourism promotion agency VisitErie. He’s also active with the Wayside Presbyterian Church. Daniel in 7 th .
Dan’s next stop was in Cleveland, where he helped transition the Cleveland Airport Marriott from a franchise to a company-managed operation and became assistant In 2013 he joined White Lodging Services, which named him general manager of the Sheraton Erie Bayfront Hotel. He oversees all aspects of the 200-room hotel adjoining the Erie Convention Center, from owner relations to brand integrity to sales, profts and service scores. He was general manager. White Lodging’s Rookie GM of the Year for 2014, the Sheraton was
with graduating seniors.
In his case, his internship at the Marriott Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage
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