Paul C. (Bo) Aughtry III

Bo Aughtry lives in Greenville, SC. He is a graduate of the Citadel with a B.S. degree in Business Administration with post graduate work at Furman University. Bo entered the real estate business out of college and in 1975 helped form Small and Aughtry, a real estate development and brokerage firm. In 1980, Bo established The Aughtry Company, a commercial real estate development and brokerage firm, and Aughtry Securities Corporation, an NASD Broker/Dealer, serving as president of both. In 1988 the companies merged with Windsor Properties, Inc., a Greenville based home-building firm, thereby forming Windsor/Aughtry Company, Inc. 

Bo’s first hotel endeavor was in Jackson Hole, WY, growing out of his love of fly fishing.  He borrowed money on his SC home to participate in a hotel which opened in 1990 and was sold in 1994.  This sale provided him with the capital to start developing hotels, with his first Hampton Inn opening in June 1995. Bo and his associates have since developed 22 hotels in AR, FL, LA, MO, NC, SC, TN, and VA.

Bo is an owner and director of Hospitality America, Inc., a Nashville, TN based hotel management company. He is a former member of the Greenville Technical College Entrepreneur’s Forum, The Citadel Foundation Board and former Chairman of Hilton Worldwide’ s Hampton Inn Advisory Council. He served on the Board of Directors of People’s Bank Corporation and the South Carolina Infrastructure Bank Board, as well as six years as Chairman of the South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control. 

Bo has been supportive of various civic efforts throughout his business life. He has been honored as Greenville’s 2003 March of Dimes Real Estate Person of the Year, a 2003 inductee of Greenville Technical College Entrepreneur’s Forum, one of Greenville Magazine’s 10 Business Persons of the Year in 2004, as well as the 2004 South Carolina Hotelier of the Year for the Hospitality Association of South Carolina.

A few facts you may not know about Bo:
He holds an honorary Doctor of Commerce from the Citadel.  Lt General John Rosa was the 16th Superintendent of the Air Force Academy and 19th President of his alma mater, The Citadel, and a longtime friend of Bo’s.  Like Bo, General Rosa was a senior private at the Citadel.  When he presented Aughtry with the honorary doctorate, he made the statement, “Forty years ago, the chances of me standing here as President and Bo receiving a doctorate were about the same, zero!”

Bo is the father of four children, three boys and one girl, and eight grandchildren. 

He loves great quotes. Three of his favorites are by Mark Twain. The first, as the father of three boys is, “When a boy reaches 12, place him in an oak barrel and feed him through a knot-hole. When he reaches 16, plug the hole.” “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” “Kindness is a language the deaf can hear, and the blind can see.”

He is an avid fly fisherman and bow hunter. Three of his hotel endeavors grew out of flyfishing.