EXECUTIVE SESSION: The Comeback

The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy that shook Wall Street is four years old, yet it still reverberates, even on the Gulf Coast.

The latest example: Bradford Jencks, the new general manager of the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota — one of the more high-profile executive positions in local hospitality circles — is here because of Lehman. In fact, Jencks, a 40-year hospitality industry veteran, was actually going to run the Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage in Palm Springs, Calif., not the one in Sarasota.

But Lehman financed the Rancho Mirage project, and construction stalled when the company filed for bankruptcy. The hotel was at least 75% completed, and three or four months away from opening, says Jencks.