Gaylord Entertainment CEO to speak at Nashville Business Breakfast Feb. 15
Kim Chaudoin |
Colin Reed, CEO of Gaylord Entertainment Company, will be the featured speaker at Lipscomb University’s Nashville Business Breakfast at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15, in Allen Arena.
Gaylord Entertainment, a leading hospitality and entertainment company based in Nashville, Tenn., owns and operates Gaylord Hotels, its network of upscale, meetings-focused resorts and the Grand Ole Opry, the weekly showcase of country music's finest performers for 80 consecutive years. The Company's entertainment brands and properties include the Radisson Hotel Opryland, Ryman Auditorium, General Jackson Showboat, Gaylord Springs Golf Links, Wildhorse Saloon, and WSM-AM Radio. On Jan. 19, Reed along with music legend Dolly Parton announced plans to bring a new theme park to Nashville.
Cost of the breakfast is $30 in advance and $40 at the door. Registration is available online at leadership.lipscomb.edu or by calling 615.966.6609.
Reed became president and chief executive officer of Gaylord Entertainment Company in May 2001. Reed was named in August 2004 by the company's board of directors as chairman and added those responsibilities in May 2005.
Since joining Gaylord Entertainment, Reed has successfully led the company’s strategic reorganization as a hospitality and entertainment corporation through its Gaylord Hotels and Grand Ole Opry brands. In that time, he has led the company’s efforts to divest more than $300 million in non-core assets, strengthened its balance sheet and repositioned Gaylord Entertainment for future growth.
Prior to Gaylord Entertainment, Reed was chief financial officer and a member of the three-executive Office of the President for Harrah's Entertainment Inc. He joined that company in 1977 as a financial controller for its former Holiday Inn International Division, with accounting responsibility for operations in the United Kingdom.
Reed was named head of finance and administration for Holiday Inn International European Division in 1981 and was appointed chief financial officer for Holiday Inn for the Europe, Middle East and Africa Division in 1985. He moved to the company's corporate headquarters in 1987 as executive assistant to the chairman. In 1992, Reed was promoted to senior vice president of development for the company. From 1993-95, he was responsible for building and executing the growth strategy of Harrah's Casinos, a company subsidiary, which resulted in Harrah's becoming one of the nation's largest, most distributed and most profitable casino companies in the nation.
The Nashville Business Breakfast is a quarterly series highlighting a business leader with local economic impact presented by Lipscomb University and the Nashville Business Journal.
Recent speakers include Michael Woodhouse, chairman, president and CEO of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store; Bill Winsor, president and chief executive officer of Market Center Management Company (MCMC), developing the Medical Trade Center in Nashville; Carlos Tavares, chairman, Nissan Motor Company's Management Committee; Mark Emkes, CEO of Bridgestone Americas; and Kix Brooks, former chairman of the Country Music Association.