“In life, it’s all about timing,” says John Roche ’71, and indeed, based on over thirty years of experience in business and real estate, you have come to learn a thing or two about timing.
After studying for a degree in business at Salem State in 1975 and an MBA from Babson in 1976, you joined the Howard Johnson Company just before its peak as a leader in lodging and dining. There you honed your skills as a shrewd financial analyst and manager under the tutelage of Vice President of Planning & Strategic Development Bob Crawford and CEO G. Michael Hostage. Your administrative assistant, Joanne Perrotta, recalls, “Mr. Hostage really took to John, being such a bright guy. So he got the nickname of ‘Boy Wonder.’”
With Howard Johnson’s, you learned the trade of finance and accounting and acquired a most valuable skill set when it came to real estate investment. That savvy attracted the eye of Thomas Flatley, who in 1986 needed a Vice President of Finance and Administration for the Tara Hotel Division at a crucial time in its history. In that role, you modernized The Flatley Company’s finance methods, before becoming Senior Vice President—again, a well-timed move.
Overseeing a division that included properties comprising 5000 hotel rooms with annual sales over $200 million, you made Tara Hotels into the Northeast Region’s leading hotel group. In a formula that The Flatley Company has perfected, you bought low and sold high, negotiating a $470 million sale of Tara Hotel portfolio to Starwood Hotels in 1997. “It was one of the largest hotel sales in 1997,” you recall, “that we had to keep quiet and secretive beforehand. It was emotional. It’s a people business, with thousands of employees you’d come to know.”
Rising to Senior VP of the Shopping Center and Office/Hotel Division, you reported directly to Mr. Flatley in managing all aspects of the company’s three million square feet of retail and office space. In the last several years under your supervision, beginning as Chief Executive Officer and Trustee in 2008, you have streamlined Flatley and overseen its diversification into an investment business, a philanthropic foundation and real estate company.
You have a work ethic that your colleagues call “unbelievable.” “He never gets down and out. John knows his stuff and does it all with a sense of humor,” says Joanne Perrotta. “And his people love working for him.” Your wife Mary and you have raised four children—Kelley, Chris, John Jr. and Brian, and you’d rather be with them on any winter day on the slopes of Waterville Valley or in Colorado.
“Everyone should be this lucky,” you say, “to look back in your career and have had a mentor or two who guides you, some luck, and plenty of hard work.” You credit Catholic Memorial with giving you the discipline to work as hard as you have, and tonight we recognize you for the accomplishments that hard work has engendered.
In recognition of his pursuit of excellence, his shrewd and persistent devotion to his business pursuits and his lifelong awareness of good timing, we recognize John Roche with the Vince in Bono Malum Award for Professional Achievement.
|