Tina Patel

Current responsibilities and their limits

Tina Patel is a director of Tulsa Regional Chamber and a board member of Regent Bank. The bank identifies her service on its Executive Loan, asset-liability management (ALCO) and Board Risk Management committees. These are bank governance and committee responsibilities, exercised within the institution’s decision processes; the roster does not establish unilateral lending authority. Her Chamber seat is a civic-business role, not an elected municipal office. Separately, Promise Hotels identifies her as co-principal and chief financial officer, responsible for financing, accounting, tax planning, cash management, risk and budgets. Neither a Chamber seat nor a hotel executive title gives her authority to enact city ordinances or determine public tax policy.

Learning hospitality and finance

Patel’s January 2026 testimony describes immigrating from England in 1979 and growing up in her family’s motel business in Sedalia, Missouri. Institutional biographies identify her as a University of Missouri–Kansas City graduate; her company specifies biology as her field. In a March 2026 industry podcast, she explained that her financial knowledge developed through reading, research, professional contacts and conferences rather than a finance degree. She also recalled lenders initially directing questions to her husband before recognizing her financial role. That account offers her perspective on establishing professional authority; it is attributed experience, not an independently adjudicated finding about particular lenders.

Career & public service

1. 1997

   First joint hotel

   Began Sand Springs hotel venture with Pete Patel.

   Hotel Management: One-on-One with Pete and Tina Patel ↗
2. 2008

   Promise Hotels formed

   Company founding dated in congressional testimony.

   House hearing: A Review of PPP Forgiveness ↗
3. 2015–2021

   Federal Reserve branch service

   Oklahoma City Branch director; chaired in2020–2021.

   Kansas City Fed: Oklahoma City Branch alumni directors ↗
4. 2019

   Tulsa Club restoration

   Hotel opened that April after work with Ross Group.

   Oklahoma Magazine: A Phoenix Rising ↗
5. 2022

   Regent Bank board

   Bank dates her election to2022.

   Regent Bank: leadership and board members ↗
6. 2026

   Policy testimony and airport opening

   January House testimony preceded April Fuel & Fly Mart opening; current Chamber roster confirms directorship.

   Tina Patel: written House Small Business Committee testimony ↗Tulsa International Airport: Fuel & Fly Mart opens ↗Tulsa Regional Chamber: board of directors ↗

People, institutions and the relationships between them

Following the connections

Each step below represents a documented relationship. Dates and roles belong to the individual links; a path can span different periods.

Documented relationships

11 documented relationships · Historical and current roles remain distinct.

The policy changes she advocated

On January 22, 2026, Patel testified before the House Small Business Committee on behalf of the American Hotel and Lodging Association. She supported the proposed American Franchise Act, arguing that a stable joint-employer definition would reduce uncertainty for franchise operators. She also advocated greater access to SBA lending and praised tax provisions she said supported reinvestment in her businesses. These are identifiable policy positions and claims by an interested business owner. The testimony establishes advocacy; it does not demonstrate that every claimed economic benefit occurred, establish a campaign endorsement or prove the legislation’s subsequent enactment.

The joint business and division of work

Pete Patel is her spouse and business partner. Independent reporting describes their complementary roles: his emphasis on operations and development, hers on finance and banking. They began their joint hotel venture with a Best Western in Sand Springs in 1997, while congressional testimony dates the formation of Promise Hotels to2008. The first operating venture and the later company founding should not be collapsed into one date. The family connection is relevant because both hold substantial business responsibilities. It does not establish their individual equity percentages, ownership of every property company or total personal wealth.

Federal Reserve service was historical

The Kansas City Fed’s alumni rosters place Patel on its Oklahoma City Branch board from 2015 through 2021 and identify her as chair in 2020 and 2021. Regent Bank independently repeats those service dates. An older Fed biography still uses present-tense language, but the dated alumni record establishes the historical context. Branch directors provide economic information and advice to branch executives, giving regional businesses a route into central-bank deliberations. That role differs from voting membership on the Federal Open Market Committee. Federal Reserve guidance also excludes directors from confidential bank-supervision information and supervisory actions. Her branch service therefore should not be described as authority to regulate a particular bank.

A subsequent commercial-bank role

Regent Bank says Patel was elected to its board in 2022, after the documented end of her Fed branch service. Its current committee listing connects her to lending, balance-sheet management and risk oversight. That succession matters: a commercial-bank directorship and a Federal Reserve branch advisory position operate in different institutions and carry different responsibilities. The available record establishes the offices and committee assignments. It does not establish her voting history on particular loans, director compensation, shareholding percentage or participation in any transaction involving her hotel businesses.

Historic reuse and an airport business

Oklahoma Magazine’s May 2019 reporting describes Tina and Pete’s collaboration with Ross Group to restore the Tulsa Club as a hotel. Tina discussed preserving historic features while adapting the building for hospitality; the account reports its opening that April. Their business activity later extended to TNP Fuels. Tulsa International Airport announced the opening of Fuel & Fly Mart on April 21, 2026 and identified TNP Fuels, founded by the Patels, as its owner and operator. This is evidence of an opening, beyond the 2025groundbreaking announcement. Neither source establishes the partners’ equity shares or audited returns, and project value should not be treated as personal income.

What she said about operating pressures

In Hotel Management’s March 2025 interview, the Patels described pressure from operating costs and their effort to improve margins through cost control and room pricing. Tina emphasized reviewing expenses closely. This account documents management’s stated strategy at that time, rather than verified later profitability. It complements her testimony about access to capital: both concern the financing and operating conditions of a hotel enterprise, while neither supplies a complete public balance sheet.

Check the record

Sources & corrections

Research checked 2026-11-04. Roles and financial figures retain their source dates. Sections appear only when supported material is available; an omitted section is not a finding that no such relationship exists.

1. Tulsa Regional Chamber: board of directors ↗

   Primary institutional record · Checked 2026-10-02

   Board of Directors: Alexis Higgins, Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust

2. Promise Hotels: Pete Patel ↗

   primary · Checked 2026-11-04

   Named president/CEO biography and portrait; education and responsibilities. Undated additional board claims not treated as current.

3. Promise Hotels: Tina Patel ↗

   primary · Checked 2026-11-04

   Co-principal and CFO; financial, lending and risk-management responsibilities.

4. Hotel Management: One-on-One with Pete and Tina Patel ↗

   reporting · Source date 2025-03-03 · Checked 2026-11-04

   Elyse Glickman: spouses and business founders; 1997 Best Western start; financial/operating division; attributed 2025 margin and pricing strategy. Conflicting portfolio counts not used.

5. House hearing: A Review of PPP Forgiveness ↗

   primary · Source date 2020-09-25 · Checked 2026-11-04

   Printed pp10–11, oral testimony: immigration1979, AAHOA membership, Promise founding2008, PPP use, layoffs and policy requests. Published GPO2021; statements attributed, not audited loan totals.

6. Oklahoma Magazine: A Phoenix Rising ↗

   reporting · Source date 2019-05-22 · Checked 2026-11-04

   M.J.Van Deventer: Pete/Tina and Ross Group restoration; April2019 opening; historic tax credit described without amount.

7. Tulsa Regional Chamber: A matter of convenience ↗

   primary · Source date 2025-04-04 · Checked 2026-11-04

   Rhett Morgan: Pete/Tina owners of Promise; TNP Fuels venture; April3 airport-store groundbreaking, projected completion. Amounts omitted absent underlying expenditure records.

8. Regent Bank: leadership and board members ↗

   primary · Checked 2026-11-04

   Tina Patel biography: elected2022; current Executive Loan, ALCO and Board Risk Management committees; former Fed2015–2021, chair2020–2021.

9. Kansas City Fed: Oklahoma City Branch alumni directors ↗

   primary · Checked 2026-11-04

   Annual rosters2015–2021 include Patel;2020–2021 designate branch chair. Historical service, not current office.

10. Kansas City Fed: branch director responsibilities ↗

    primary · Checked 2026-11-04

    Branch boards: seven directors, appointments and three-year terms; regional economic insight and advice to branch executives.

11. St. Louis Fed: Role of Bankers on Federal Reserve Boards ↗

    primary · Source date 2022-02-14 · Checked 2026-11-04

    Director responsibilities: insight informs policy; excluded from confidential supervisory information and supervisory actions.

12. Tina Patel: written House Small Business Committee testimony ↗

    primary · Source date 2026-01-22 · Checked 2026-11-04

    PDFpp2–3 early career and1997/2008milestones;pp4–6 American Franchise Act, SBA loan access and tax-policy advocacy; on behalf of AHLA. No personal-income or asset estimate inferred.

13. Tulsa International Airport: Fuel & Fly Mart opens ↗

    primary · Source date 2026-04-21 · Checked 2026-11-04

    Opening ceremony, TNP Fuels founded by Pete/Tina and owner/operator. Confirms completion beyond2025groundbreaking; no audited amount inferred.

14. It’s Personal Stories: Tina Patel interview ↗

    primary · Source date 2026-03-19 · Checked 2026-11-04

    Interview with Rachel Humphrey; self-taught financial expertise and bankers initially contacting Pete; attributed experience, not independent finding of discrimination.