Guided by Experience
Bruce Fears
President
ARAMARK Parks and Destinations
As President, ARAMARK Parks and Destinations, Bruce Fears is responsible for ARAMARK’s operations at 40 resorts, national and state parks, national forests, zoos, aquariums, museums, and other tourist destinations throughout the United States.
Fears, who has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, is a recognized leader in the travel and tourism community and is often asked to provide commentary for news stories and present at industry conferences.
Fears first joined ARAMARK in 1974 as food and beverage manager at the Skyland Lodge of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, before rising to the level of regional vice president. He was also an integral part of ARAMARK’s management team at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
Fears left Aramark Parks and Destinations to become president of Delaware North Companies Parks and Resorts. He returned to our company in May 2005 as Executive Vice President, ARAMARK Parks and Resorts, and assumed his current position in October 2005.
Fears received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Bridgewater College in Virginia and continued through programs at the University of London’s School of Economics and the University of Florida’s School of Management.
He currently sits on the National Board of the Travel Industry of America and is Vice Chairman of the National Park Hospitality Association. In addition, he's a board member of the Northwest National Parks Conservation Association and is a proud partner of the National Park Foundation.
Bob Marshall, Jr.
Senior Vice President, Operations
ARAMARK Parks and Destinations
With more than 20 years of hospitality and gaming industry experience, Bob Marshall, Jr. is charged with focusing the ARAMARK Parks and Destinations team and business to deliver consistent operational excellence, service innovation and performance results.
Marshall joined ARAMARK in April 2008 from Delaware North Companies, where he last served as Vice President of Operations, responsible for $150 million in managed volume consisting of nine locations — most notably the Kennedy Space Center, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and two Ohio hotel properties as Vice President, Operations.
Marshall’s operational experience in the hotel and lodging industry includes a strong focus on resorts through his role as Director, Facilities and Services for Accenture, managing eight facilities in the Chicago area. He also spent six years with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts as a General Manager in a variety of resort properties. Prior to his executive-level operational positions, Marshall held several management roles at the Sands Hotel Casino and Country Club located in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Marshall earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Widener University, School of Hotel and Restaurant Management and holds an Associate’s Degree from the Academy of Culinary Arts. He serves as Vice Chair for the Widener School of Hospitality Alumni Advisory Board and is a member of the Widener University Capital Campaign Steering Committee.
David Zerfing
Chief Financial Officer
ARAMARK Parks and Destinations
David Zerfing brings over 20 years of experience in Finance, Operations, Sales and Marketing in the Gaming/Hospitality Industry and is responsible for overseeing and managing Finance functions for the ARAMARK Parks and Destinations Portfolio.
Prior to joining ARAMARK, Zerfing worked for New Frontier where he held the position of Chief Financial Officer and was responsible for the opening and development of the financial model for and business plan for the $2.0B Montreux Project consisting of 3,000 rooms, 500,000 square feet of retail space, nine restaurants and 90,000 square feet of gaming space.
During his tenure in the industry, Zerfing held several significant Executive financial and operational roles in the Gaming industry. He held the position of CFO for Barrick Gaming Corporation. He also spent several years working with Bally’s/Paris, located in Las Vegas where he held the position of Vice President of Finance & Administration overseeing and managing the finance function of the casino. Shortly after, the role changed to Executive Vice President, Finance & Casino Marketing and his responsibilities were expanded to include all Casino Marketing areas. David made a tremendous impact on the organization and developed strong financial, marketing and operational skills during his time with Bally’s/Paris.
Zerfing is a Certified Public Accountant and has a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting.
Carrington S. Carter, SPHR
Vice President, Human Resources
ARAMARK Parks and Destinations
Carrington Carter is Human Resources Vice President of ARAMARK Parks and Destinations. With 20 years of Human Resources management experience, Carter leads our Human Resources team.
Carter joined ARAMARK in 2001 as National Human Resources Director for ARAMARK Parks and Destinations and also has held Human Resources posts in ARAMARK Healthcare, ARAMARK Education Facility Services and ARAMARK Education. For ARAMARK Education, Carter was Associate Vice President of Human Resources. He was responsible for HR field operations and led a team of HR Directors and Managers providing support and expertise for 15,000 employees serving the K-12 community. Carter led significant ARAMARK Education initiatives, including a major organizational restructuring. He also helped create standardized key success measurements to establish a culture of increased accountability and recognition.
Carter serves on the Executive Board of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families achieve financial stability through counseling and education and is a graduate (Cum Laude) of Rosemont College, with a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Development.
Sandy Heilman
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
ARAMARK Parks and Destinations
As Vice President Sales & Marketing for ARAMARK Parks and Destinations, Sandy Heilman is responsible for managing our sales and marketing, e-commerce, revenue management and Central Reservations functions. She brings over 20 years of sales, marketing, and e-commerce experience in the hospitality industry.
Heilman joins us from Medieval Times Entertainment where she was Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Prior to Medieval Times, she was Executive Vice President of Marketing for La Quinta Corporation with responsibility for National Marketing, Loyalty, E-Commerce, Central Reservations, Marketing Research and Strategy. Heilman began at La Quinta as Vice President, Electronic Distribution and Marketing successfully building the team and overall strategy for online development and positioning.
Sandy holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Eastern Michigan University.
Brian Stapleton
Corporate Executive Chef
ARAMARK Sports and Entertainment
Stapleton joined The Ritz-Carlton Company as Sous Chef at the Atlanta Ritz-Carlton, a AAA Four-Diamond, Mobil Four-Star hotel in 1987. Over the next 10 years, he held a series of chef positions at Ritz-Carlton properties as his talents continued to be recognized and rewarded. He became Executive Chef at the Four-Star, Four-Diamond Ritz-Carlton in St. Louis in 1991, and two years later was honored as St. Louis’ Chef of the Year. In 1994 he was named Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach, Florida, a AAA Five-Diamond, Mobil Five-Star hotel.
Stapleton turned his career in a slightly different direction in 1995, leaving the world of large, national hotel organizations for The Siena Hotel in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. As Executive Chef, he quickly made the AAA Four-Diamond hotel restaurant, Il Palio, one of the most popular fine-dining venues in the Research Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) area. Along with receiving recognition in regional and national magazines, Il Palio in 1999 was named Restaurant of the Year, and Brian was honored as Chef of the Year in the Triangle.
Stapleton has been receiving national attention. His talents were showcased in August 2003 and September 2005 when he was a guest chef at the James Beard House. He represented the State of North Carolina at the 2004 National Seafood Cook-off in New Orleans (which has aired on The Food Network), was selected to represent AAA of North Carolina on a chef’s cruise in October 2006, and participated in the Chef’s Advisory Board for the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission and North Carolina Seafood Commission. Stapleton continues to appear on local and national television and at countless charity events in North Carolina, and travels throughout the country performing demonstration cooking and representing North Carolina in various food and wine events. He is a graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.
Dean Crane
Vice President of Engineering
ARAMARK Parks and Destinations
Dean manages support services for Parks in total, as well as Lake Powell operating departments. He manages operational aspects of NPS Special Account projects, coordinates Parks-wide capital budgeting and tracking and preventative maintenance, as well as construction of major capital projects. Crane also oversees our environmental initiatives and compliance. He studied Business Management at Northern Arizona University, several CEU courses in Marina design, Incident Command Certification, and Level III HASWOPER Certification.
ARAMARK Parks and Destinations | Leadership | Company Culture | Partnership