WICHITA, KS—Value Place,the extended-stay hotel brand, has had a busy year. It announced amajor expansion of its franchise efforts, brought in a new team oftop officials and just reported that its system-wide revenueincreased 10.6% over the same period last year to $55 million. Andnow it will attempt to further strengthen its brand name by namingMike Varner as its senior vice president of brandstrategy and marketing.

Varner joins Value Place fromChoice Hotels International, where he was mostrecently responsible for brand strategy and management for theComfort Inn and Comfort Suitesbrands. It's not the first time that Value Place has tapped someonefrom CHI, one of the world's largest lodging companies.Bruce Haase, for example, who recentlytook the helm as chief executive officer at ValuePlace, had just finished a 12-year tenure at CHI. Varner has alsoheld leadership positions in brand management and innovation atCampbell Soup and 3M.

Value Place “has built a solid andprofitable business model, with tremendous growth potential fordevelopers as the brand expands across the country,” said Varner ina prepared statement. He was not available by press time. “And withindustry-leading occupancy levels, we know guests like us, too. AsValue Place continues to grow, we'll strengthen customers' bondswith the brand, so they'll make our hotels their first choicewhenever they're looking for a place to stay.”