Northwest Arkansas Business Journal 2009 Fast 15: Storm Nolan

Storm Nolan, 28
Partner
CSK hotels LLC, Fort Smith

Claim to Fame: Started and sold a Web-based business while he took a break as an undergrad at Cornell University.

Next Step: Developing and building branded resorts like a Hilton or Marriott in Central America or the Caribbean.

It only took Storm Nolan five semesters to graduate with a bachelor’s in hospitality from Cornell University.

He took a year and half off to start a Web site where companies could directly purchase marketing and promotional items. When he sold that company, he went back to school to finish up his degree and ended up graduating with the class he originally started with. That was in 2002. The same year he, his brother and his step-father bought a 10-story hotel in Little Rock and began a total renovation.

That partnership culminated in CSK hotels, which now has 12 properties in its portfolio. Most are in Arkansas, including the Aloft Hotel in Rogers, the first Starwoods property in Arkansas, and the recently opened Marriott Townplace Suites in Johnson. The group has investments in Memphis, Texarkana and Kansas City as well.

In all, the partners control between 1,400 and 1,500 total rooms and employ about 170 people, Nolan said.

He continued with his education, earning his MBA from Columbia University in 2007.

Nolan started his school career assuming he would work for Riverside Furniture Corp. in Fort Smith, in which his step-father was a majority partner.

But the company was sold to an investment firm and Nolan liked the idea of managing resorts, so the hotel business was a natural start.

A native of Fort Smith, Nolan said his first real job was working the loading docks of Riverside, where he kept a low profile and didn’t let anyone know he was related to the owner.

“It was good, learning about hard work and a good work ethic,” he said of the experience.

Chris Whitt, Nolan’s step-father since he was 2 years old, describes him as “intense.”

“Nolan doesn’t wait to get things done,” Whitt said, “he just does them.”

“He’s very focused and very methodical and extremely computer literate … he’s very proactive,” Whitt said.

As for dealing with employees and other partners that might be older than him, Nolan said, “if you show someone you are willing to work on the details, that trickles down.”

“If they respect your knowledge and see you are a hard worker, then it’s pretty much not a big deal.”

(RELATED: Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 15 Young Pros on the Fast Track)