Chamber honors BG man
Posted on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 2:24 pm
The Caroline County Chamber of Commerce recognized a Bowling Green man as its business person of the year for 2011.
William Webb was honored at the chamber’s annual Christmas social, which was hosted by Joseph and Tillie James at their home in Dawn on Thursday evening last week.
Webb, 60, a Caroline native, operates an engineering consulting firm with an office in Fredericksburg.
With his brother, Ed, he also operates a business that owns commercial properties in Bowling Green – A&M Home Center, a hardware business, and Bowling Green Suites, both located on Main Street.
The two buildings that comprise Bowling Green Suites have a combined 10 units that provide lodging in apartment-style living quarters. Guests can make reservations online through a website. They obtain keys from a lock box outside, but Webb is in the process of having electronic locks installed on the units that will enable guests to access them via a code.
One building dates to the early 1800s, and the other was constructed in the 1940s. At the time Webb’s business acquired them, one was a hotel and other was an apartment building. Both were completely renovated in 2004, initially converted into offices.
Webb was later approached by Remuda East, which operated a behavioral treatment facility on Sparta Road in Milford, about converting the space into lodging facilities that could be used by families visiting patients. The buildings were converted into lodging units, and Bowling Green Suites was operated under that business model until Remuda East closed in March.
Webb has established a website for Bowling Green Suites (www.bgsuites.com) and is beginning efforts to market it. He will market lodging for Caroline residents who need temporary lodging for out-of-town family and guests for weddings, funeral, and other special events, as well as an option for people traveling into the region for events such as the Virginia State Fair and special events at Meadow Event Park.
“We’re trying to provide an upscale…place for people to stay,” said Webb, who served on the Bowling Green Town Council in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The suites offer such amenities as luxury furniture, LCD flat panel TV with Direct TV service, washer and dryer, complete kitchen with granite countertops, outdoor patio with gas grill, housekeeping services, and more.
According to the website, for the price of a hotel room, lodgers can enjoy a one or two bedroom suite with den and fully furnished kitchen.
Webb also is beginning efforts to market Bowling Green Suites for the lodging needs of military personnel who are assigned temporarily to undergo training at Fort A.P. Hill. Some military personnel already have lodged there and had a favorable stay, according to Webb.
Webb’s engineering consultancy, Webb & Associates, employs 10 people, including his sons, Dan and Chad, who also live in Bowling Green. The company provides engineering, surveying, and land planning services related to building construction and residential and commercial development.
