Ciampa: As Dale Venturini retires, she's made a difference in RI's hospitality industry

When I talk about how special the Rhode Island dining scene is, I speak from experience. It's not just that I have covered it for 22 years as a beat writer, it's that I spend time elsewhere. I'm able to compare how things are in Rhode Island as I observe Maine and Massachusetts restaurants up close. There's a professionalism and camaraderie here that makes Rhody different.

Many factors go into that, of course. They include having a culinary college like Johnson & Wales University in Providence; a groundbreaking business like Farm Fresh Rhode Island connecting farmers with consumers; the culinary business incubator Hope & Main, which has launched so many food businesses; and the polished work of organizations such as the Providence and Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau, Discover Newport and the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council that bring attention to it all.

Then there's Dale Venturini, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Hospitality Association. For more than 35 years, she has built up an organization that supports, educates, lobbies for and promotes the hospitality industry in Rhode Island. Many view her as one of the most powerful women in Rhode Island. Her trade association represents more than 900 businesses, including restaurants, hotels, vendors and other food service operations.

Three powerhouse restaurateurs – Ned Grace, founder of the Capital Grille, Bill DeAngelus Jr. of Twin Oaks and Ted Fuller, then owner of Gregg’s Restaurants – hired her in 1988 to lead and grow the 25-year-old advocacy group. She worked out of Grace's office at first.

Today, her staff is based at headquarters in Cranston. Her job includes overseeing the R.I. Hospitality Education Foundation and the Hospitality Training Academy and a team of lobbyists, all of which she established. She was instrumental in improving the industry’s educational and training programs, key to improving the bottom line for most businesses.

When I profiled her in 2018, Venturini said her challenge was to keep up with the hospitality business, which is ever-evolving and has discerning customers. She said she had to stay on top of market changes and offer training on subjects like product costs and food safety that greatly affect her members.

She wanted Rhode Islanders to understand that the businesses she represented make up a cornerstone of the state. Once people open up a restaurant in a neighborhood, she said, other development begins.

How many times have you heard it when people are shopping for homes on HGTV? People want to live within walking distance of restaurants and cafes. Venturini helped make that happen here.

Now she is ready to retire, she wrote in an email that arrived Tuesday night. These paragraphs stuck out for me:

"The last few years have been among the most trying of my career, and I am so proud of how we all navigated the pandemic together, charging ahead into uncharted waters while doing everything possible to keep businesses open and operational.

"New funding was created, new laws were enacted, new campaigns were launched and many of these measures remain in effect today, for the benefit of our industry as a whole."

Indeed, Rhode Island was quick to pivot when the world shut down in March 2020 due to COVID-19. Many industry people, including Venturini and her team, helped bring cocktails to go and outside dining into practice to keep restaurants going. They had to move fast and get government to move fast to deal with the crisis. The industry has suffered since then, but not as badly as it could have, because of their actions.

The move to outside dining will never be reversed if the public will is respected.

What's coming to RI's dining scene: 10 restaurants to keep an eye out for in 2024

Heather Singleton, the organization's longtime chief operating officer, will assume the role of interim president and chief executive officer. The board of directors’ executive committee has begun the work to select the next leader of RIHA.

I think Venturini's words on her guiding values should be adopted by all, especially these days, when the world is so divided. She cited "cooperation, collaboration, communication, connection, curiosity, compassion, civility and camaraderie" as her keys to managing.

No doubt they contributed to the recipe for success in Venturini's 35-year career at RIHA.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Dale Venturini announces retirement as head of RI Hospitality Association