PLYMOUTH, N.H. –– Plymouth State University Executive Director of External Relations, Stephen P. Barba has been named “Master of New England Innkeeping” by the New England Inns & Resorts Association’s (NEIRA) Executive Committee, it was recently announced.
Barba, the former president and managing partner of The Balsams in Dixville Notch, N.H., spent 48 years at the luxury resort before taking the position at PSU in March of 2006. He oversees PSU’s government, community and public relations efforts and serves as spokesperson and ambassador to the University’s various external constituencies. Barba also supervises University special events and conferences and works closely with the directors of development, alumni relations and the Silver Center for the Arts.
The “Master of New England Innkeeping” award was created to archive and preserve a living culture steeped in the region’s historic innkeeping tradition that spans the past 150 years. A finite total of twenty-five awards eventually will be conferred –– Barba is the tenth Innkeeper award recipient. Honorees are nominated by their peers in the industry and are those innkeepers who have made a lasting contribution and left an indelible mark on the culture of New England hospitality.
Named one of New Hampshire Public Radio’s 25 most influential New Hampshire residents, Barba sits on the board of directors for Citizens Bank-New Hampshire, the Northern Forest Center, and the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce.
Founded in 1907 by owners of B&Bs, hotels, motels and resorts in the New England region, the NEIRA comprises more than 250 properties, many of which are highly rated by AAA and Mobil Travel Guide.
Barba will be formally installed in October at NEIRA’s 100th anniversary meeting to be held at the Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, N.H.
For more information on this release, contact Kevin D. Anderson at kdanderson@plymouth.edu or at (603)-535-2211.
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