DULUTH, Ga. — Before the guests check out, community patrol ambassadors with the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District (CID) check in. Romi Patel owns and manages a Wyndham Garden Hotel in Duluth, and as the area grows, so too do the risks.
“The ambassadors, they’re extra eyes and ears,” Patel said. “They hear and see what’s going on in the area, what developments are coming up, what things we should look out for, what things we should talk about. In hotels, we see different faces every day. There are thousands of people who come in and out of this hotel on an annual basis, so safety is obviously the number one priority for us.”
The Gwinnett Place CID has a $16 billion economic impact, according to executive director Joe Allen. He said nearly 30,000 people go to work there every day, the area accounts for about 7% of the county’s jobs, and for the 2,000 businesses that call the area home, it’s all about protecting their investment…