Former Red Lion Hotels CEO joins Lee & Hayes
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Posted by: Linn Parish
December 11, 2008
Lee & Hayes PLLC announced today that Arthur M. Coffey has joined the firm as a strategic advisor.
Mr. Coffey will provide strategic consulting and business-development services to Lee & Hayes as it continues to grow and develop new and innovative businesses in the intellectual-property space.
“The firm is delighted to have the opportunity to work with someone of Art’s caliber and character,” said Lee & Hayes CEO Shaun Cross. “Art is one of the most highly respected business leaders in the Spokane region. It’s a real pleasure to have the chance to work with him.”
Mr. Coffey retired as the president and CEO of Red Lion Hotels in February. When Mr. Coffey retired from Red Lion after 27 years of service, he stated his plans were to focus on his Christian faith and family before getting back into business this fall.
“We are pleased that Art will share with Lee & Hayes his expertise of starting and growing very diverse businesses,” said Lewis Lee, firm co-founder.
While Mr. Coffey will also provide services to other companies and his own projects, he will have an office at the new Lee & Hayes headquarters on the 14th floor of the Bank of America Financial Center in Spokane.
Mr. Coffey is best known for his leadership between 2003 and 2008 as the president and CEO of Red Lion Hotels. Mr. Coffey noted that, “I started with Red Lion in 1981 when it was a small private company known as Goodale & Barbieri. At the time Goodale & Barbieri was a Spokane real estate firm that also owned three hotels.”
When Mr. Coffey retired in 2008, Red Lion had 52 hotels located in eight states and one Canadian province. It also owned and operated an entertainment and event-ticket distribution company. Mr. Coffey was the executive vice president and chief financial officer when the company went public in 1998.
During his time with the company, Mr. Coffey was a key leader in both finance and operations that grew Goodale & Barbieri and many of the region’s real estate, hotel and office developments, such as Riverpoint Village in Spokane, Red Lion on Fifth Avenue in Seattle and Crescent Court in Spokane. He also led the business development and operations of many other businesses, including TicketsWest, which is now in 16 states, and Broadview Dairy.
Lee & Hayes is one of the larger patent-law firms in the United States. The firm during the past two months moved into new office space in Spokane, Seattle and Austin, increasing its total space systemwide from 21,000 to 45,000 square feet. The firm employs 100 people, including 55 attorneys and patent agents.
The firm is contemplating a presence on the East Coast next year and also intends to open an office in Beijing in 2009.
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