Business View Magazine l January 2023

149 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 had a part-time job as a dishwasher in a brand new hotel that had opened up and I needed some extra cash,” Elenis explains. “I ended up staying with the industry until now.” As Elenis worked his way up through the industry ranks, he kept learning and remained inspired by a sector that offers endless opportunities for those that are willing to roll up their sleeves and learn the trade. Never losing his enthusiasm for the field that nurtures his soul, Elenis is thriving in his current position with the ORHMA and never loses sight of the issues and concerns of the members he represents in the field that he truly loves. “I would not have joined this association [ORHMA] because it was just an association. I joined because it was an organization that related very closely to an industry I fell in love with. I am still here,” Elenis describes. As Elenis explains, the ORHMA dates its roots back to the 1920s. “The Ontario Restaurant Association and the Ontario Hotel and Motel Association operated as two separate entities. In 1999, they merged and became what we call the ORHMA which is now the largest provincial hospitality Association in Canada made up of 4000 plus members representing over 12,000 businesses, both independent and brand or chain affiliations across Ontario,” Elenis outlines. Elenis also highlights the sheer diversity of the sector the association represents, and points out that it is a business that relies on meeting people, making deals, and making contacts. With the pandemic hitting hospitality so hard, the very way that business has always been conducted was temporarily severed. The channels of communication and in-person events that have always been utilized to carry the business forward suddenly became off- limits as restaurants, hotels, and motels shut down throughout the province and restrictions ONTARIO RESTAURANT, HOTEL , AND MOTEL ASSOCIAT ION