5th Annual MSW Community Partnership Awards

The Annual Main Street Waterbury Community Partnership Award
Presented to John L. Hopkins,
CEO & President of Post University

Wednesday, October 9, 2019 • Palace Theater at 5:30pm

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Main Street Waterbury presents the 5th Annual Main Street Community Partnership Award (formerly the Stephen R. Sasala II Community Partnership Award), honoring an individual whose strong leadership and commitment to partnership building exemplify the spirit of our community.

This year's award will be presented to John L. Hopkins. John L. Hopkins is currently the CEO and President of Post University. John began his career in the hospitality business having worked for major luxury hotel companies. He functioned as the SVP of Operations for the Peabody Hotel group for many years before moving on to become President of RFS Hotels in Memphis TN. After selling that company, (as the first Hotel REIT), Mr. Hopkins joined Omni Hotels & Resorts International working in various senior level roles, culminating his tenure with Omni as the EVP, the senior most executive and executive board member, responsible for all aspects of the company’s performance and growth of this multi-billion dollar international hotel company.
He was a co-architect of the formation of Medtech College and its’ CEO for almost 5 years where he led the company through significant growth despite a battered education sector. Prior to joining Medtech, John was Chairman, President & CEO of MedVance College, a healthcare education company. He joined MedVance in the fall of 2006. After a highly successful turn-around, followed by substantial growth, he eventually sold the company in December of 2009.

Mr. Hopkins received his B.S. in Business from the Whittemore School of Business and Economics, at the University of New Hampshire. He has also received Executive Certificates of study from Cornell University in Management Sciences and Finance. Since arriving to our community, he has been active as a board member of numerous non-profit and for-profit organizations, including local board positions for the YMCA of Waterbury, The Palace Theater, and Executive Board of the Greater Waterbury Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Hopkins is a multiple Stevie Award winner, including Maverick CEO of the year three times, two-times CEO of the Year and two-times Company of the Year. His companies have been recognized for being best in Marketing, Innovations in Human Resources and Organizational Culture, Management Team of the year, two-time recipient of Best in Biz Awards, Achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces and Best Places to Work, to name a few accolades that recognize his focus on building great companies.

We hope you will join us October 9 as we recognize Mr. Hopkin’s contributions and commitment to our community while celebrating the impactful role that positive partnerships play in revitalizing downtown and improving Waterbury’s future.