Responsible Hospitality Council Sponsors ELi’s Arts and Entertaining Reporting

ELi is excited to report that the East Lansing Responsible Hospitality Council (RHC) and a group of associated businesses have stepped up to provide funding for ELi’s Arts and Entertainment reporting for the next year! The RHC is a non-profit association of East Lansing restaurants that promotes responsible advertising and service of alcohol within the East Lansing community.

Funding from RHC and several associated businesses will enable ELi to continue to bring steady news of local arts events, East Lansing festivals, and dining opportunities. The RHC was inspired to provide this sponsorship after seeing news of the sponsorship of ELi’s weekly newsletter by Crunchy’s, a member of RHC.

Michael Krueger, owner and manager of Crunchy’s, currently serves on the RHC Executive Committee, along with Norman Stewart of Big Ten Party Stores, Casey Comstock of Harper’s, and Harper Riley of P.T. O’Malley’s.

The RHC sponsorship is paired with sponsorship by a group of well-known East Lansing downtown establishments, including Beggar’s Banquet, Harrison Roadhouse, Rick’s American Cafe, and The Riv.

Dewey Bramson is President and Owner of Equity Vest, the East Lansing company that manages these four restaurants along with others in the region and out of state. Bramson says that he and other members of the RHC are “excited about supporting local independent journalism of high quality.” He tells ELi that the RHC values ELi’s efforts to bring news of East Lansing that would otherwise go unreported.

Besides the businesses already named above, the RHC’s current full members also include Bistro 43, Black Cat Bistro, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dublin Square, El Azteco, FieldHouse, HopCat, Landshark, Lou & Harry’s, the Peanut Barrel, and the Tin Can.

The RHC started in 1998 and works specifically to promote “responsible advertising, safe on-site management, community stewardship, compliance with state and local liquor laws, and responsible alcohol consumption by patrons throughout all of our member establishments.” It provides best practice guidelines for events like 21^st birthday parties and other celebratory events, and runs workshops to train servers in practices that help keep patrons safe.

MSU’s Student Health Services hosts the RHC’s website “in recognition of the unique and valuable role the East Lansing Hospitality Council plays in relation to responsible alcohol consumption in the community.”

“This connection between ELi and the RHC makes perfect sense,” says Ann Nichols, ELi’s Managing Editor. “Both organizations work to provide meaningful, community-centered service that benefits the people who live, work, go to school, and relax here. We are proud to have the support of so many East Lansing business owners!”

In addition to sponsorships from the RHC, Beggar’s Banquet, Harrison Roadhouse, Rick’s, The Riv, and Crunchy’s, ELi receives support for its news service from LightSpeed, the East Lansing-based high-speed internet service provider. LightSpeed has been supporting ELi’s work since January 2017.

Funding for ELi’s nonprofit, nonpartisan news service has also come from over 600 individual donors. Click here to join them!