As I entered the national headquarters of the Zenith Management Company on January 21, 2010, the portraits of company founders Manley Goldfine, Erwin Goldfine and Fannie Benton Goldfine beamed at me from a nearby wall, liking what they saw: An enterprising young man, moving with purpose. Perhaps I reminded them a little of themselves.
Located on the fourth floor of the Paulucci Building, next to the Aerial Lift Bridge, ZMC headquarters was smaller than I expected—narrow hallways and small offices furnished with typical office décor. ZMC manages more than thirty hotels nationwide, including the Edgewater Best Western and the Inn on Lake Superior in Duluth.
I was there for the monthly Spirit Mountain board meeting. Todd Torvinen, ZMC president and vice chairman of the Spirit Mountain board, had opened the ZMC conference room for that purpose.
