Airbnb generates $1.4 million locally and more business updates from our area
One Columbus bank executive has been chosen for a Federal Reserve position, while a locally based technology company exec has received a major promotion in the latest business roundup that also includes a peek at how Airbnb is doing in Georgia and our local market.
Stelling takes seat on Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Kessell Stelling, chairman and chief executive officer of Columbus-based Synovus Financial Corp., has been elected to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s board of directors, his term running through Dec. 31, 2020.
He joins the nine-member board that includes executives from United Parcel Service, Habitat for Humanity International, Bloomin’ Brands, H.J. Russell and Company, Leapfrog Services, AuburnBank, CapStar Financial Services and Veritiv Corp.
Each of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks in the U.S. has a nine-member board of directors that oversees management of the bank’s operations and contributes information that ultimately involves U.S. monetary policy and changes in interest rates, up or down.
Stelling has been with Synovus since 2006, joining the company as Riverside Bancshares was acquired by the Columbus bank. He was chairman and CEO of Riverside at the time of the purchase, later becoming a regional CEO in Atlanta for Synovus, then rising to president and CEO of Synovus in 2010, followed by chairman in 2012. He has held various board positions, including the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, Georgia Power, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Historical Society.
Harrelson becomes TSYS senior vice president over human resources
Credit-card and payment processor TSYS, headquartered in Columbus, has promoted Ryland Harrelson to senior vice president and chief human resources officer in its Administrative Services area.
The company said that Harrelson, who has been with TSYS since 1998, will oversee the firm’s global human resources, corporate real estate, corporate marketing and culture, diversity and inclusion. He also is the chief ethics officer.
“Ryland has been a key member of our executive team for more than 14 years and has shown exceptional leadership, subject matter expertise and strategic acumen as our CHRO (chief human resources officer),” Troy Woods, TSYS chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. “His tireless efforts leading our HR, diversity, marketing, and real-estate programs around the world have had a positive and lasting impact on the people and culture of our company, and will play a key role in assuring our success going forward.”
TSYS does business in 13 nations, employing about 13,000 people and racking up $4.9 billion in revenue in 2017. The company processed just under 28 billion transactions that year.
Airbnb impact mushrooms in Georgia
It has only been around about a decade, but the lodging company Airbnb, which helps local property owners rent their spare homes and rooms, has made a financial impact in Georgia as a whole, and in Columbus specifically.
AirBnb says its “hosts” in the Peach State generated $158 million collectively in 2018 from about 1.1 million guests staying overnight in their properties.
“The home sharing community provides significant value through expanded lodging capacity for Georgia communities when hotels sell out during big events,” the company said in a release. “These include Athens during college football weekends, Augusta during the golf tournament, Atlanta during major conventions and concerts, and the oceanfront communities during summer tourism season.”
In Muscogee County, there were 14,000 “guest arrivals” in 2018, an AirBnB chart shows. That amounted to $1.4 million combined in income for the property hosts here. It also comes with the Columbus Consolidated Government, like other local governments around the U.S., working to put in place rules for operating a private lodging property and paying fees for various aspects of that.
The lion’s share of guest arrivals and income was generated in Fulton County, with Airbnb and its “hosts” serving 477,000 people and generating $70 million in combined income. Chatham County in the Savannah area saw 183,000 guests for a total of $29 million in income.
This story was originally published January 22, 2019 at 12:00 AM.