A life dedicated to serving others

Rich Palzewic

Staff

October 7, 2024

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – Many people may not be aware that the Badger State has a Lodging Hall of Fame, but for one Northeastern Wisconsin man, his recent induction is music to his ears.

Rich Batley, 74, was inducted into the Wisconsin Lodging Hall of Fame during a ceremony late last month.

“I didn’t expect to be nominated, but when you’ve been doing something this long and get recognized by your peers, it makes it a little extra special,” he said.

Still going strong

As the founder of the Best Western Premier Bridgewood Resort Hotel & Conference Center in Neenah, the Copperleaf Boutique Hotel & Spa in downtown Appleton and Batley’s Grill & Bar in Neenah – Batley said he is still heavily involved in the hospitality business.

“I’ve been doing this for 58 years,” he said. “I started at 16 as a dishwasher, and I’ve been involved in the hospitality industry ever since. I joke with people that I’m down to about 40-45 hours a week, Monday through Friday. I’m very active in the Bridgewood Hotel and the operating partner for the Copperleaf.”

Batley said he used to work at least six days a week.

“It wasn’t uncommon to put in 60-70 hour weeks,” he said. “In my early career, I worked a split shift every day. I’d come in at lunch, go home for a couple of hours and come back and do the night. It never felt to me like it was crazy, and thank God for a wonderful wife and family. I couldn’t have put this much time into it without their backing.”

For the time being, Batley said he has no plans of stepping back.

“We’re adding on 39 rooms to the Bridgewood Hotel and remodeling all 94 bathrooms,” he said. “I’m heading up that part of it, and we’re also going to be redoing the bathrooms at the Copperleaf. My son, Ryan, is the general manager at Bridgewood, so he can concentrate more on day-to-day business things.”

By his own admission, Batley said, “I’m not an office guy.”

“The fun part for me is being on the floor, and with Bridgewood, even more, because we have a full-service restaurant (Batley’s Grill & Bar),” he said. “We do a lot of weddings, banquets, corporate events, etc. I usually start my day in the restaurant for breakfast – we have a very strong senior breakfast we’ve developed – so I go around and make small talk and have fun with people. It’s the same with lunch.”

Batley said maybe if he had been more aggressive and wanted more, “I could have had a whole bunch of hotels.”

“This is where home is, so I never wanted to extend out to where our hotel wouldn’t be part of the community,” he said.

A challenging industry

Besides the long hours, Batley said in this day and age, social media can make the industry “a bit more challenging.”

“That’s why we strive to do our best right off the bat, but we communicate with our guests that if they do have a problem, bring it to our attention as soon as possible,” he said. “I’d rather have them do that instead of going home, posting something on social media and then calling us. The hospitality industry has always been challenging.”

Batley said not everything will go perfectly 100% of the time for guests.

“It can be a little thing that sets someone off, and then it snowballs,” he said. “Give us the opportunity, and we will fix it. Maybe sometimes a chef is going to cook a hamburger wrong or something. Some things are not an exact science.”

Being local owners, Batley said, helps a lot in hospitality.

“With my wife, Lori, son and daughter, Jaclyn (HR at Bridgewood), we’re local owners,” he said. “I think that makes us different because like I tell people, my number is in the phone book. We’re not hiding anywhere, so we can always be reached. It also helps that we have some long-term managers here because they know people, and they’re part of the community. People aren’t afraid to approach us.”

Though overall, Batley said the hospitality industry is rewarding, there are challenging aspects of it as well.

“Working nights, holidays and weekends is a common theme,” he said. “Again, because we’re hands-on owners and managers, that helps us keep a strong and dedicated staff. They know we’re not absentee owners and will help them.”

A young start

Batley said his involvement with the hospitality industry started at an early age – even before he became a dishwasher.

“My parents owned a grocery store (Howard’s Food Market) when I was younger,” he said. “I’m the youngest of five, so after school, my job was to sweep the floor and clean the meat block. My brothers were more than 10 years older than me, and they delivered groceries. In the ’60s, we were delivering groceries back then, and you think of how delivery has become such an important part of today’s world.”

At times, Batley said he kind of misses those days.

“I was a paperboy for the Appleton Post Crescent from 12 to 16 years old,” he said. “I think about that now, you had a lot of responsibility – you had to collect the money and deliver the papers. It was seven days a week. If somebody didn’t pay, you still had to pay. It’s too bad those jobs don’t exist for boys and girls now because that was a big responsibility at a young age.”

When it was his time to deliver groceries, Batley said he told his parents he was getting a job as a dishwasher at Alex’s Edgewater in Menasha.

“I didn’t realize I was making a career decision,” he laughed. “I started as a dishwasher and worked up to a prep cook, cook and then lead cook. It was an open kitchen, and I became very attached to (the hospitality industry).”

From there, Batley said he went to the “Left Guard” – a restaurant owned by former Packers player Fuzzy Thurston.

“I worked there for seven years,” he said. “I had a great experience and showed growth. I have no formal education or degree in the hospitality industry or cooking or college. My opportunities came from learning from and having great mentors.”

From there, Batley said he moved on to Bergstrom Hotels.

“Without John and Dick Bergstrom’s help, I wouldn’t have received this award,” he said. “They taught me a lot about hospitality, so I was fortunate to work with them. I was with them for 21 years. What I learned from them was invaluable.”

Batley said he held key leadership roles with Bergstrom – from director and vice president of food and beverage, to vice president of hotel operations, overseeing three hotels along with their conference centers and dining services.

Batley said he also held the position of general manager at a hotel in Waupaca for a few years.

In 2002, Batley, along with five partners, acquired the former J.C. Penney building in downtown Appleton.

Following its demolition, construction began in spring 2003, and by early 2004, Copperleaf officially opened – making it the first hotel to open in downtown Appleton in 22 years.

Giving back

Beyond the workplace, Batley said he is also committed to the community.

“I learned about the importance of giving back from John and Dick,” he said. “They always said, ‘give where you get,’ and that has stuck with me.”

Batley said he has helped raise funds for the community through the company’s annual United Way Fox Cities Campaign, raising awareness for victims of sexual abuse through his participation in “Shall We Dance.”

“Being part of United Way, I think we’re one of the few hotels that participate,” he said. “It’s great to do that and give back. It’s part of what we do – we live here, so let’s help.”

Batley said the Neenah Animal Shelter recently built a new facility, so “we donated a little money to that as well.”

If he could give those interested in the hospitality industry some advice, he said it would be to “stick with it.”

“Don’t give up and work your way up through the ranks,” he said. “Sometimes you have to start at the bottom to get to the top.”