Scott Tarwater, a veteran hotel industry executive and former right-hand man to legendary developer John Q. Hammons, has a new job. Tarwater, who left the Hammons organization last fall in a management shakeup, is now chief development officer for O’Reilly Hospitality Management, an ambitious and well-funded lodging development and management company based in Missouri.

“I’m thrilled to be part of this new adventure and excited to be working with such a passionate, entrepreneurial group,” says Tarwater. “And I get to stay in Springfield. My new office is only 5.5 miles from home.”

He left John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts when new CEO Jacqueline Dowdy took control of the company and the 92-year-old Hammons entered a local nursing home. Hammons hasn’t been seen or heard from in public since. Tarwater, who says he treasures the years he spent with the man he calls “my mentor and my best friend,” was able to visit Hammons recently. It was their first contact in more than nine months.

“I’m happy to report he’s doing well and looks great,” says Tarwater of the visit. “In many ways, it was like old home week. We picked up our conversation where we left off the last time we were together. I plan to visit with him again soon.”

We recently chatted by phone with Tarwater to learn of his new role and his new company.

What is O’Reilly Hospitality Management?
It was formed in 2007 by the grandson of the founder of O’Reilly Automotive. O’Reilly started here in Springfield in 1957 with one store and now has nearly 4,000 retail [auto parts] outlets in North America and will probably do $5.5 billion-$5.7 billion in sales this year. The grandson, Tim O’Reilly, is CEO of O’Reilly Hospitality. He’s been a practicing attorney for 16 years, but the hotel bug bit him in 2007.

He’s enthralled and absolutely loves the hotel industry. He began by purchasing an older hotel that needed a lot of tender loving care and work. It was formerly a 201-room Sheraton, which he turned into an award-winning DoubleTree.

What is your role with the company?
I’ll be beating bushes looking for deals, which is what I spent a lot of time doing when I was riding shotgun with Mr. Hammons. It will be fun to resurrect many of those wonderful contacts I have in the hotel world. I don’t think we will be bored in the near future.

What strengths do you bring to the company?
Having been around for 30 years, I have both a well-developed operational and sales and marketing background. From John Q. Hammons I got a PhD. on how to do public-private developments. That combination, together with a good network of contacts, gives me the knowledge base to produce results.

What’s in the pipeline for the company?
We have some upcoming developments that I’ll be able to publicize in the near future, one in Illinois and one in Texas. Both entail new ground-up development and will be in the $50 million to $60 million range each. Both of these projects are also public-private partnerships. We believe there’s a lot of pent-up demand for public-private hotel development, especially since developers haven’t been able to find the debt and equity pieces to get projects funded themselves. We’ve been able accomplish that, which is going to open all kinds of new opportunities for us.

What about the management business?
Our third-party management arena is also looking bright. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll be announcing a third-party management opportunity for a 200-plus-key Holiday Inn that will open the doors for additional third-party management opportunities for us.

How has O’Reilly been able to access capital when others have had some difficulty?
Tim has positioned himself is very good light with funding sources that he developed over the years as both an entrepreneur and a practicing attorney. And it certainly doesn't hurt to have the O’Reilly name and family behind you. Many of the projects are at the right time, in the right place and with the right group. These funding sources need to put their money to work, and when you have a great public-private story to tell, you can move the ball forward.

What geographic areas are you looking at? Mostly the Midwest?
While the Midwest has played well for us and will continue to do so, Tim’s vision is opportunity-focused rather than geography-focused. We will look anywhere, any time where the opportunity makes sense.

Is the decision to pursue LEED and other sustainability issues driven by business principles or because it is the right thing to do?
We’re committed to everything LEED certified. We just opened a beautiful LEED Gold-certified Hilton Garden Inn in Springfield on March 15th. It’s an absolutely stunning hotel and is leading the way as far as LEED certification projects for the HGI brand. It’s driven by Tim O’Reilly’s environmental commitment. We’ve also developed a number of Houlihan’s Restaurants that work in concert with our hotels that are all LEED certified.