Jim Merkel is the Founder and CEO of Rockbridge, a private investment firm headquartered in Columbus, Ohio that has been focused on the hospitality industry since 1999. Rockbridge has made more than 260 real estate and hospitality investments in 38 states, worth over $8.5 Billion in total capitalization. In 2011, Jim also founded RBHD, a leading hotel development and construction business that has done over $1.4 billion in renovation and ground-up construction of hotels.