Q: Why do corporate clients choose Felicita?

A: We're just a 15-minute drive from the capital, so it's convenient. Unlike a downtown hotel, we have private parking lots, so they don't have to worry about paying. Another thing, we can put together a package — you can have a golf day and a meeting day.

Our meeting rooms aren't your typical hotel rooms, with four walls and a drop ceiling. It's natural lighting. People tend to like that. They like that they can see out the windows; it has that comfortable open-air feeling.

Has business expanded?

I think, given the recession, we've held our own. We haven't gone down; we've gone up.

How do you reach out to potential business clients?

I go out to businesses and visit them. I go to Hershey, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, as far out as Lancaster. I ignore any no-soliciting signs, and they either welcome me or kick me out. Actually, they haven't kicked me out yet.

I think the biggest key to getting business is, when you get a call for anything, return that person's call within that day, within that hour. The moment you put it off, you lose that sale.

What were some of your bigger corporate events?

We had one shortly after I started here that brought in close to 300 people, attorneys working on Marcellus Shale. We've had Deloitte & Touche here; they've done big events.

Are you planning any new initiatives?

We're trying to partner more with people. We've started a good relationship with Open Stage of Harrisburg — they're coming out on a regular basis. We're looking at putting on actual shows.

We're a unique facility. We're not a hotel. We have a natural amphitheater and the gardens, so the site works well for a lot of theater and art events.

We rent AV equipment for events from J.P. Lilley. We use Unique Limousine, we use Event Central for pavilions, chairs, things like that. That way we don't have to try to do everything. We have one name, one partner, and they work. You can say to clients, "We work with them all the time." They like that.

About Deb Catalano-Clionsky

Deb Catalano-Clionsky became sales and marketing manager at Felicita Mountain Resort & Spa in 2008. Although best known for weddings, the facility hosts numerous corporate gatherings, which constitute its second-largest event category, she said.

The Garden Room at the resort in
Middle Paxton Township can accommodate up to 300 people, and there is an outdoor pavilion that can seat 250. A 16-seat
board room with a mahogany conference table is available for smaller meetings.

Companies often make use of the resort's 18-hole golf course for corporate outings, or do team-building exercises in the spacious grounds and gardens, she said.

Catalano-Clionsky previously was sales manager at Harrisburg's Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts. She got her start in real estate sales, then took what she refers to as "a long sabbatical" to raise her daughter, re-entering the work force in the early 2000s. She and her husband live near Italian Lake in Harrisburg.