Brian J. Wogernese, founder and CEO of Cobblestone Hotels, has died 10 months after being diagnosed with advanced esophageal cancer. Since his diagnosis, he undertook “countless” rounds of chemotherapy, surgeries and treatments while guiding his team and developing more projects, the company said in a statement.
Wogernese founded the Cobblestone Hotels brand in 2007, opening the first location in 2008 in Clintonville, Wis. He started in the hotel industry in 1992 as a hotel shuttle driver at a hotel in Minneapolis. From there, he worked in a wide range of departments in a hotel that later in 2007 became the foundation of the Cobblestone brand. Since he knew what conditions were like for franchisers, he wanted his brand to be “franchisee-first.” In 1999, he started WHG Companies, now Slate Hospitality Group, a hotel management company that manages several brands and restaurants.
“If you knew him, you knew his gears were always turning; thinking of new innovative ways to streamline processes or dreaming of new ways to grow the brand,” according to the company's statement.
Wogernese’s son Riley Wogernese joined the Cobblestone Hotels team in multiple capacities during the past several years and is “prepared to be the second generation of the Cobblestone Hotels’ legacy.”