Leonard Richardson, from Virginia Beach, VA is the current ELFA President. He first joined the ELFA Board as Region IV Director representing Virginia and West Virginia properties. He served the Association as Secretary from 2003-2005, and was elected Vice President in May of 2005. He assumed the title as President in February 2006 after Sandhya Patel lost her courageous battle with cancer.

His hotels have consistently been award winning properties, achieving Inn of the Year nominations at 2 Econo Lodges, and winning the award in 2002 at VA051. He was the General Manager at VA231 for 15 years prior to moving to work primarily at the family’s Comfort Inn VA448.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with this volunteer group for so many years. It is not always easy, in fact often frustrating, to get such a diverse group to agree on what is best for the Econo Lodge system. The variety of cultures, personalities, and business approaches sometimes collide; but in the end we make the strategic decisions we all believe are best for the success of our system as a whole. Somehow, this crazy mix of people still remain friends at the end of day.”