Indianapolis-based Prime Hospitality Group (PHG) has appointed Stacy Hiquet as Chief People Officer, a senior hire the family-owned company says is central to sustaining growth across its expanding collection of restaurants, hotels, bars, and cafés.

PHG's portfolio currently includes 13 Ruth's Chris Steak House franchise locations across the Midwest and Southeast, Marriott hotel properties, and a pipeline of Hilton assets. The company also operates proprietary concepts — The Exchange, Brasserie 23, and Un Deux Trois Café — giving Hiquet a broad, multi-brand environment to shape from day one.

The Hire's Scope

Hiquet will oversee human resources strategy, talent development, and organizational culture across PHG's full portfolio. Her mandate centers on building the systems and leadership infrastructure that multiunit operators typically require as they cross regional and brand-category lines. Kristy Rans, President of Prime Hospitality Group, framed the appointment as a deliberate structural investment: "Stacy brings valuable experience in developing teams, strengthening culture and supporting organizations through growth. Her leadership will help ensure our people and Core Values remain at the center of where PHG is going next."

Hiquet arrives from DuraMark Technologies, where she held the title of Vice President of Human Resources and Talent Development. She also has a working fluency in the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a structured leadership and accountability framework that has gained traction among mid-market hospitality operators navigating rapid scaling. Her background spans HR, talent development, training, operations, and broader business leadership — a generalist profile increasingly sought by hospitality groups managing mixed restaurant and lodging assets.

Why Operators Are Watching

C-suite investment in people-focused roles has accelerated across the foodservice and hospitality sector as turnover costs and workforce alignment challenges intensify. For multiunit operators in particular, a dedicated Chief People Officer signals a move away from reactive HR toward proactive culture architecture — embedding values and performance expectations before headcount growth outpaces infrastructure.

PHG's decision to formalize the CPO role while simultaneously managing a Ruth's Chris franchise footprint and a hotel pipeline reflects a broader pattern in restaurant group workforce strategy: operators that historically handled HR as a back-office function are elevating it to the C-suite to protect service consistency and brand reputation at scale.

For the hospitality industry professionals tracking workforce development trends, PHG's move is a data point worth noting. As coverage from Food & Beverage Magazine has illustrated, the tightening labor market continues to push multi-concept operators toward dedicated people leadership earlier in their growth cycles than previous generations of restaurant and hotel companies typically did.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.