Cote Family Destinations, a collection of resort and camp holdings in Minnesota and Arizona, has made several significant additions to its leadership team. This includes the appointments and promotions of Regina Pruitt as chief financial officer, Merrick Dresnin as chief people services officer, Jeff Wermager as vice president, commercial strategy, and Karen Gilbertson as vice president of projects and analytics.
“We’re in an exciting time of revitalization and growth at Cote Family Destinations, a legacy, family-owned company that has managed destinations beloved for their authenticity and hospitality for over 100 years,” Agnelo Fernandes, CEO of Cote Family Destinations, said in a statement. “With each of their unique and valuable insights and experiences, Regina, Merrick, Jeff and Karen are already influential members of our leadership team as we look towards an exciting new chapter of expansion for our company.”
Regina Pruitt, Chief Financial Officer
Poised to become instrumental in the growth of Cote Family Destinations, Pruitt joins the company from Charlestowne Hotels, where she was vice president of finance for the entire portfolio of 40 boutique, soft-branded and branded hotels, as well as the corporate operation. Pruitt has more than 15 years of experience in hospitality, working on boutique and lifestyle properties as well as resorts like the PGA National Resort, Spa, & Golf Club and branded hotels like Radisson Hotel Group Americas. Over her career she has focused on managed hotels, onboarding and opening new properties and developing hotel finance teams. She specializes in system and process implementation, finding efficiencies and making hotel finance accessible and practical.
Merrick Dresnin, Chief People Services Officer
As chief people services officer, Dresnin oversees all functional areas of people management, focusing on championing the company's culture through retaining associates and acquiring the right talent. He joined Cote Family Destinations in 2017 as corporate director of human resources and has more than two decades of experience in opening properties and restructuring human resources teams. Dresnin has published multiple human resource articles for various industry publications and has both taught and guest lectured at hospitality schools around the country.
Jeff Wermager, Vice President
As vice president of commercial strategy, Wermager will guide positioning and influence pricing of all revenue generation initiatives. He has more than 30 years of experience in the hotel industry spanning the property and corporate levels at Radisson Hotel Group Americas. There, he served as vice president of channels and distribution and was responsible for guiding the strategic direction of third-party partnerships, contact center and commercial services. He is a current member of HSMAI’s inaugural Global Distribution Advisory Board and is a Certified Revenue Management Executive.
Karen Gilbertson, Vice President of Projects and Analytics
Gilberton joined Cote Family Destinations three years ago as company director of information technology. Now serving as vice president of projects and analytics, Glibertson works closely alongside the CEO and leadership team to collaborate on the strategy and prioritization of future capital expenditures. She is also responsible for information technology strategy and business applications, enterprise project management and analytics for Cote Family Destinations’ resorts and camps. Before working at Cote Family Destinations, Gilbertson was franchisee owner for Showhomes’ Minneapolis location, where she increased revenues by 33 percent and received the Rising Star Award. She also was director of IT and hotel systems development at Carlson.
Cote Family Destinations specializes in the management of resort facilities and services including accommodations, golf, spa, food and beverage, retail, equestrian, conferences and special events.