IHG announced that their newest brand has added four new executives, to its development team.

"The growth of our sales and development team underscores the momentum that Hotel Indigo continues to gain within the franchise community because of its unique point of difference in the marketplace and the strength of the IHG infrastructure and expertise," said Kirk Kinsell, SVP and chief development officer, the Americas, IHG. "The common goal of all of these positions will be furthering the growth of the Hotel Indigo brand," he added.

The newly created positions include a vice president of project development and three regional directors of franchise sales. Bill Kuzell will rejoin IHG and serve as the vice president of project development. Based in Atlanta and reporting to Kirk Kinsell, Kuzell will be specifically focused on IHG sponsored acquisitions and new build developments for the Hotel indigo and Holiday Inn brands. In Kuzell's most recent role with the company, he was responsible for managing the development of the new Holiday Inn prototype in Gwinnett and the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead.

In addition, three regional directors of franchise sales were added to focus on the Northeastern, Southeastern and Western regions. All three directors will report to Brown Kessler – VP franchise development. Rick Cunningham will manage the Southeastern region of the country. Cunningham most recently served as director of corporate business development at IHG and was responsible for establishing the first Corporate Business Development national sales team focused on the development of new global key and mid-market accounts for all seven brands and 3,500 hotels worldwide. Shane Skubis, who will focus on the Western region, most recently served as IHG's director of franchise sales & development for Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. Angie McPetrie will manage the Northeastern region and was formally a manager of franchise licensing at IHG. Her responsibilities included handling change of ownership and license renewal applications/franchise agreement negotiations. In their new roles, all three directors will be responsible for executing Hotel Indigo sales and development strategies for their territories. They will also focus heavily on expanding and maintaining the distribution of Hotel Indigo hotels, developing new and potential clients, and marketing the new brand to potential buyers within the hotel franchise community.

"Each of these seasoned IHG executives brings a wealth of company knowledge and industry expertise to their new roles which will enable them to be an immediate asset to the Hotel Indigo development team. We are thrilled to be able to tap the talent pool from within our company to fill these new positions," said Kinsell.

A brand developed primarily for conversions, Hotel Indigo is designed to fit a variety of markets in locations where a hotel might not be reaching its full potential, but is poised for success post conversion. And while conversions will be the primary method for the brand's expansion, new build opportunities will be explored where it makes sense. With Hotel Indigo's phenomenal reception from consumers and franchisees alike, it is primed for continued expansion in the United States. Today's announcement comes on the heels of the brand's recent opening of the Hotel Indigo Chicago-Gold Coast, located in one of Chicago's oldest and most historic neighborhoods. Future sites of Hotel Indigo hotels include Sarasota, Houston, Chicago-Palatine and additional hotels in other major U.S. cities are under consideration. The first Hotel Indigo opened in Atlanta in October 2004.