From Staff Reports 

GREENVILLE, S.C  — The Paris Mountain hotel developer — whose  CEO is Krut Patel — “wants to partner” with local colleges and universities, Spartanburg television station WSPA reported on April 22.

To that end, the Upstate Post and Courier added, “The developer behind the proposed $60 million luxury hotel on Paris Mountain has announced a plan to share part of the hotel’s profits with area colleges and universities.”

Further, the UP&C stated, “It’s not clear if those institutions will participate, and details remain scarce. In fact, the school that’s closest to the development site — Furman University — said it wouldn’t accept the money.”

Meanwhile, WSPA noted if the hotel is approved, the developers want to partner with higher education institutions across the Upstate — with culinary arts and hospitality management internship opportunities through the hotel.

“Being able to provide those experiences here locally and then for them to be able to take those experiences anywhere in the world, being able to fit right in — that’s what we’re most excited about,” WSPA quoted Patel as saying.

Additionally, the Divine Group (the hotel developer) said it “would give money to the universities and colleges that partner with them,” WSPA reported.

The TV station added, “According to project leaders, no higher education institutions have officially partnered with them, but some are hopeful they will.”

Dr. U.A. Thompson, a Travelers Rest resident who says he is a believer in the project, told WSPA, “The funds will be based on a percentage of the net profit of the hotel. That will come on a monthly basis to each of the institutions...”

WSPA added that “Dr. Thompson said he believes The Inn at Altamont’s business model is one that others will begin to follow.”

He added, “Hopefully this will spark other developers to do the same thing, to curb their profits and put their money where their mouth is and help the community with causes such as education,.

Dr. Thompson bills himself as a community faith/thought leader, a pastor, a change agent, a political strategist, a philosophical theologian, a commentator and as an Urban Diviity School “visionary.” He is the founder of the Greenville-based UDS, which he touts as “South Carolina’s first urban black divinity school.” 

Dr. Thompson was at the Divine Group’s partnering-with-colleges’ announcement, along with a few leaders from local universities, including the following:

• R.J. Gimbl, vice chancellor for University Advancement at USC Upstate, who told WSPA, “We look at partnerships everyday on how they can impact our students, keeping students first, and realizing that as this project gets underway there is going to be an opportunity for our students to connect to it directly.”

• Lamont Sullivan, the senior associate vice president for Alumni and Athletic Sevelopment for North Greenville University, who told the TV station, “We will make sure we know everything about the project in its full scope and about the foundation and the funds that would be distributed before we do anything that is going to put our university in any bad light.”