Minutes Thursday, The Jacksonville Tourism Development Authority (JTDA) meeting was held Thursday, at 9:30 AM in Meeting Rooms A & B in Jacksonville City Hall. The meeting was video recorded and presented live on the Jacksonville-Onslow Government Television Channel. Members present: Chairman Mayor Pro-Tem Michael Lazzara, Vice-Chairman Ken Hagan, Fannie Coleman, Bill Hemmingway, Linzi Thomas, MellaDee York and Shadow Members Ernest Wright and Rick Young. Others Present: Theresa Carter, Onslow County Tourism; Laurette Leagon, Jacksonville-Onslow Chamber of Commerce; Ashleigh Bachert, Jacksonville-Onslow Sports Commission; Dave Brown, Museum of the Marine; Pat Walker, Vietnam Veterans Memorial; and Teresa Beacham, Viamark. Staff Present: Glenn Hargett, John Carter, Gayle Maides, Carmella George, and Carolyn Lampe. Call to Order Chairman Michael Lazzara called the meeting to order at 9:30 AM. He welcomed everyone in attendance. Recognition Chairman Lazzara recognized Wit Tuttell, Acting Assistant Secretary, Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development from the NC Department of Commerce and thanked him for coming. Adoption of the Agenda A motion was made by Ken Hagan, seconded by Bill Hemmingway, and unanimously approved to adopt the agenda as presented. Approval of the Minutes A motion was made by MellaDee York, seconded by Linzi Thomas, and unanimously approved to adopt the minutes of the meeting held February 20, 2014 as presented. Authority Strategic Information Gathering Strategic Visions from Onslow Tourism Practitioners Jacksonville-Onslow Chamber of Commerce: Laurette Leagon, President of the Jacksonville-Onslow Chamber of Commerce stated she would let Theresa Carter speak on behalf of Onslow County Tourism, but she
Page 2 wanted to talk about the Chamber of Commerce s part in advancing tourism for our area. She spoke about the Chamber event, Onslow Engaged Bridal Expo that benefitted from the support of the JTDA. When the Chamber found that 2,765 marriage licenses were issued in Onslow County in 2013, they knew there was an opportunity to increase business not only for our local lodging facilities, but for other area businesses as well. This was the first year for the Bridal Expo and they had 53 vendors, 79 brides, family members and a few grooms. From vendor comments received after the event, they felt it was worth continuing. Not only were overnight stays generated during that weekend, but already more than $50,000 had been generated for future lodging and one caterer reported getting five catering jobs from the event. Another opportunity identified by the Chamber was with their 859 members. The Chamber planned to make a conscious effort during the next 12 months to reach out to the members to find out how many regional and state professional organizations they were a member of and how many times a year they traveled out of Onslow County for meetings. Many of the organizations were small enough to have their board meetings or annual retreats at our existing lodging facilities. The Chamber would work with our lodging facility sales directors to bid on holding these meetings and events in Onslow County. There would be some events that couldn t be bid on because of the limited amount of space, but small groups could be accommodated. The Chamber itself was limited on where they could hold events. The Business Expo this year had the maximum number of vendors the Commons could hold 30 days before the event. More vendors wanted to sign up, but there was no more space. The State of the Community Breakfast and the Administrative Professionals Breakfast were extremely popular and more tickets could be sold if there had not been limited seating. Ms. Leagon stated she thought the progress being made to enhance and promote our natural resources would help grow tourism in our area, but to have a well-rounded tourism economy, a large multi-use complex was needed to host large groups, organized sports, and professional entertainment. She saw this as the missing link in advancing tourism in Onslow County. MellaDee York stated the Bridal Expo was great and their Director of Sales had about 10 to 12 leads. Linzi Thomas stated that they also benefited from the Bridal Expo. In regard to the Business Expo, it was packed to the rim and she knew we would have benefited as a County and City from having more vendors participating. Ken Hagan stated he like the idea that we were beginning to recognize the number of business meetings there were and were going after that business was a great idea. He
Page 3 felt it would benefit the community as well as the restaurants and hotels and motels in the area. Bill Hemmingway stated that he felt a multi-use complex was a great idea. We were just behind the times by about 20 years. Mayor Pro-Tem Lazzara stated the Bridal Expo did very well and was a great addition. A lot of local businesses benefited from it as well. Onslow County Tourism: Theresa Carter, Onslow County Tourism Director stated that she has been involved in some capacity with tourism in Onslow County for the past 17 years and knows the region. She served as chairperson or board member to many of the regional tourism organizations. Tourism was not just her job, but her passion. She loved the County, its people and its lifestyle. She grew up in military communities along the East Coast and overseas. All her life she heard the negatives attached to military towns, but she believed Jacksonville has done a wonderful job to change that image in the past five years. She felt that the citizens of Onslow County came first and what was good for our citizens was a perk for our visitors. She provided examples of the upgrades done by City and County officials to prepare our area for the future. There were people who felt these upgrades were a waste of money, but to be proud of your hometown was priceless. Ms. Carter provided statistics on why tourism was vital to the County. North Carolina was the sixth most visited State in the Country which meant we saw a lot of tourists. The economic impact in 2012 from those visitors to North Carolina equaled $25 billion in spending. Onslow County ranked 22 nd out of 100 counties with visitor expenditures of $203.4 million. For years Jacksonville relied on the friends and family of military and the County relied on beach visitors because that was what our community was set up to handle. Times have now changed. In the last five years, eight new hotels have been built with three currently in the building process. Two of the hotels being built will add needed meeting space, but the space still won t be big enough to hold all new growth seen. With the reduction of the military in the future, we needed to diversify and plan for alternative ways to fill the hotel rooms. If we didn t, all the hotels would be vying for the same customer resulting in a reduction in rates and quality. In order to diversify, a larger facility was needed to encourage bigger events. She was looking for facilities that could offer friends and family options or space for reunions, conferences, concerts, expos, special events, sports and weddings. She was also looking for an outlet mall, water park or putt-putt golf. There was only one facility in Jacksonville that could hold over 400 people that was not located on the base. It was old, unattractive, and lacked amenities for sound or technology. There were several smaller venues, but they were scattered over the County and not close to hotels. A large multi-purpose complex was needed with break-out rooms, technology, kitchen, stage, professional
Page 4 sound system, convertible arena that could hold seats for concerts, but could be switched to hold sporting events and special events like weddings, reunions and balls. A large parking area was also needed. This was just a basis list. Cabarras County Arena and Event Center was a model that she would like to see in Onslow County. She would also like to see some type of transportation system for visitors where they could be shuttled from hotels to venues. Chairman Lazzara thanked Ms. Leagon and Ms. Carter for the hard work they put in at the Chamber every day. Their message was heard and he stated it could now be substantiated with more data than could be provided in the past. Strategic Visions from the Jacksonville-Onslow Sports Commission Ashleigh Bachert, Jacksonville-Onslow Sports Commission Executive Director stated that if you build it, they will come; however, if you don t build the right thing, they won t come. She provided sports travel statistics for the entire country and reviewed County figures. As far as sports venues, there were sufficient outdoor complexes such as approved running routes, soccer fields, middle and high school fields, golf courses, and the Base; but there was a problem with sufficient parking space for events. Indoor facilities were lacking, not enough space was available to use one facility for larger events, and there were scheduling conflicts with those facilities which included the Commons Recreation Center and local middle and high schools. When charging admission, a lot of the facilities were not set up for points of access, so there were a lot of people who cheated the system which limited the revenue stream for those events. There are several local facilities that have enough space under one roof including facilities in Myrtle Beach, Greensboro, Apex, and the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center in Concord. We lost a lot of potential activities because there wasn t enough space and we couldn t grow. Ms. Bachert s wish list for an indoor facility included at least 8 indoor basketball courts that could be turned into 12 volleyball courts, drop curtains, parking, locker rooms, meeting rooms, upper deck viewing and seating, and availability of use. On the outdoor side, she recommended a championship stadium with parking. A championship stadium could host 3,000 to 4,000 people and had championship quality fields. Her recommendation would be to move in phases. An updated market study was essential to moving forward. Ken Hagan stated that it appeared there would be a need for collaboration between the City and County with the elected officials on board. Other communities recognized the economic impact of sports and sports-related activities. They had taken steps to start building facilities and we were behind. It would take an educational process to get people to understand this was an opportunity to bring visitors to our community as well as serve as a stream of revenue. It was a pipe dream if we didn t get the elected officials and citizens behind it. He felt it could be done now because people understood
Page 5 the economic impact of these kinds of facilities. We needed to build something that was multi-purpose that would hold all of the activities of the community and not just sports activities. The elected officials would need to understand that they were probably looking at a bond referendum, but the JTDA and the County Tourism Board would help. The community has been trying for over 40 years to bring economic development to the community with little success, but this could bring economic development in a different form to the community. Linzi Thomas stated that she didn t feel it should be a tough sell and research would be needed to make sure the right facility was built. Chairman Lazzara stated that being involved in sports for as long as he had been, it was a no brainer. Traveling around the country, you can see how communities have taken the steps to build multi-purpose complexes. It was less expensive to operate a multi-purpose complex than 20 parks. For many years we had the sports, but not the hotels. Now we have the sports, hotels and restaurants. From his conversations with County counterparts, there was an interest in joining and potentially working together on a large scale project. Sports and meetings are an economic generator in our community that work. He felt in some fashion Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune could also be a partner as there were shared services we could provide that the government recognized. Partnerships were a huge part of this. We needed to be a leader and provider of that organizational aspect by getting the study and conceptual plans done to make this a reality. Bill Hemmingway stated that there were a lot of people involved in this board and the County Tourism board. We needed to sell this idea to the community who would in turn sell the idea to the elected officials. That was where it needed to start. Chairman Lazzara stated that you would be shocked in the amount of money that left our community just in Marine Corps Balls. Ken Hagan reminded everyone that the community supported things they believed in. About 10 years ago, there was an opportunity to bring a minor league baseball team to Jacksonville. An event was held at the American Legion building one month after the opportunity was publicized. 685 season tickets were sold where a cash deposit was collected for a team and stadium that we didn t have yet. If we could start people thinking in terms of this endeavor in the same fashion, the support would be there. The multi-purpose complex needed to be presented in the right way and understood. A State-wide Sector Vision Wit Tuttell, Acting Assistant Secretary, Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development, NC Department of Commerce stated that the State focused on partnerships. There were a lot of great attractions in the State, but not enough
Page 6 marketing dollars to promote them. Strategic marketing investments and partnerships were used to leverage the assets of the State. Visitors spent over $53 million a day in North Carolina and contributed over $4 million a day in State and local taxes. Tourism also generated 200,000 jobs. Mr. Tuttell reviewed the January through March lodging reports for the State comparing them with the South Atlantic region and spoke about how the State could help. The State s efforts were focused on out-of-state visitors, since the local tourism offices focused their limited dollars on in-state, more frequent visitors. The Division of Tourism was basically a marketing and advertising public private partnership agency that offered a lot of cooperative assistance in marketing. He reviewed the programs that they offered and stated that one of the biggest things they could offer help with was research. Research was important so you knew what people were looking for in your area. Marketing had to be targeted because there wasn t a lot of funding. Their latest strategy was deeper connections focusing on the State s unique features. We have scenic mountain beauty and beaches like other states, but every community had its own unique history that needed to be told. About 85% of travel planning was now done on the internet, so it was important to have a good website and to promote that website. There were great opportunities to partner with the NC site. Mobile phones now made up 40% of the traffic, so the NC website was revised with responsive design where data was brought up in a form that looked best on the devise being used. Social media was another trend big in marketing. It leveled the playing field allowing those who did not have big budgets to talk to people. It was about customer service and engagement. Pintrest was also a great travel planning tool. The big methods of advertising didn t work like they use to, so it has become harder and more fragmented to reach people. They have moved from print to digital doing about 40% print and 60% digital. The State partnerships increase media spending dollars from the budgeted $3 million to $9 million in spending. Every year about 50 travel writers are brought into the State to write stories about happenings in the State. This generated about $6 million in PR value which was about twice the amount spent for advertising. As part of the partnership offered by the State, there were nine welcome centers which saw about 7 million people a year. Brochure space in the welcome centers was free, but materials needed to be run through their office first. It was important to get information in front of travelers. Even though they may not be visiting your area this time, they may come back. The State also had a 1-800 call center that was located in Raleigh at the Women s Correctional Center. The disadvantage was that the operators couldn t get out to see the State, but you could visit them to promote your special events. Their best partnership efforts were with sports. Sports NC was a joint effort between the State and the NC Sports Association. There were about 50 tourism offices that promoted sporting events as it was a tremendous business. In 2009 with a decrease in most other areas, no decrease was seen in weddings and sports. Tourism was a competitive business that had to be marketed.
Page 7 Mr. Hagan thanked Mr. Tuttell for the great presentation. What jumped out at him was that the hotel business has been flat and the way to bring it up was to build a facility. That was the message City Council and the County Commissioners needed to hear. Mr. Tuttell stated that we were in an interesting situation as a lot of destinations in North Carolina had interesting things to do and see, but didn t have the accommodations, particularly in rural North Carolina. This County had the infrastructure which was a good sign, but needed something to do to fill those rooms and it had to be promoted. Chairman Lazzara asked at what level did Mr. Tuttell think his department could participate in the study aspect. Mr. Tuttell stated that data driven research could be provided, but they also had a research person on staff who could lead them to additional resources. When these facilities were built, you had to look at them from a budgetary standpoint as a loss-leader. They allowed businesses and the community to make more money and generate tax revenue, but not necessarily the facility itself. The tax revenue generated helped the bottom line. Ernie Wright stated that in most cases when you build a complex you didn t make any money in the first five years. You have to convince the public that it is a dream deferred. As a former elected official he knew it was hard to get the municipalities and County to agree on anything. You needed to get outside interest to bring everyone to the table. For forty years they have been trying to get something going. He liked the approach being taken now, but we needed to be more aggressive and set a time table. Chairman Lazzara agreed and stated that he thought we were now at the right juncture. The pieces of the puzzle are there and the vision can be substantiated. Mr. Wright asked what the military towns of Goldsboro and Fayetteville have done differently that we could learn from. He even heard Rocky Mount had a complex and we were larger than they were. Chairman Lazzara stated that the Mayors have now joined together as Military Host Communities to share challenges and successes. He felt it was invaluable as there was nothing better than the exchange of information. To remember his visit to Jacksonville, Chairman Lazzara presented a photo of the Freedom Fountain to Mr. Tuttell to hang in his office. Recess/Reconvene Chairman Lazzara recessed the meeting at 10:43 AM for a short break. Chairman Lazzara reconvened the meeting at 10:51 AM.
Page 8 Strategic Work of the Authority Tourism Promotion Fund - Reports Grand Prix Series - Update Mr. Hargett provided an after-action report on the Engineer s Challenge which had a significant increase in participants this year. Of the surveys taken, 21% of the participants had no military connection and an equal amount was from outside the area. There were 95 room nights with 75% of those booking for two nights. These figures were only from those who completed a survey. The next event in the series is the MARSOC Mud, Sweat & Tears which already had 1431 participants registered. Of that number, 52% were women. The association with the Grand Prix Series has given this community some unique experiential races. Their website has seen hits go from 15,000 to 48,000. They displayed at the Raleigh Rock & Roll race and will also display at Jacksonville Jamboree. The combined economic impact on the four races so far has been $196,071. Vietnam Memorial Foundation Mr. Hargett stated that the rededication ceremony was set for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Saturday, May 31 with an invitation- only celebration dinner the night before. Consideration of the Tourism Development Fund Allocations for FY15 Mr. Hargett reported that a nine member review panel scored the 14 requests received and made recommendations on the applications. Universal recommendations to continue as had been done in the past were made as well as requiring closer coordination with Onslow Tourism, cross promotion at the events, and a post meeting with staff to capture data closer to the time of the event ending so the reports were more uniform. A brief review of the events and recommended allocations was given on the following applications: 1) National Night Out 2) Montfort Point Motorcycle Run 3) Riverwalk Pooloza 4) MCCS Grand Prix Series 5) Mind, Body & Soul Empowerment 6) Jacksonville NC Fashion Week 7) Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Run and Race 8) Oktoberfest 9) Winterfest 10) Jazz in the City Jazz Concert 11) Engaged Bridal Expo 2015 12) Art Block 13) Jacksonville Jamboree 14) Onslow JAM
Page 9 In regard to the Engaged Bridal Expo, Bill Hemmingway asked what funding was the Chamber contributing. Laurette Leagon said that Chamber provided all of the staffing to put the event on and the funding they received from JTDA went exclusively to marketing. Ken Hagan asked what funding the County contributed to the Expo. Ms. Leagon stated they would be asking for funding from Onslow Tourism, but had to wait and see what that budget would be for the coming year. Following the review, Mr. Hargett stated that the Board could accept the recommendations, modify the recommendations, or delay consideration. The advantage of taking action now allowed staff the time to generate the agreements so they were ready to go when the budget was adopted. Chairman Lazzara said that a lot of information was presented and even though the committee had seen the details, the Board members were seeing it for the first time. He recommended delaying action until the next meeting so they had time for review. Mr. Hagan felt that was a good idea as a lot of information was given. There were some items that needed more discussion because what was funded should put headson-beds. On the majority of the requests, the consensus recommendation was that follow-up be provided which reminded him of the amount of time City staff was spending on tourism related items. Instead of having City staff do this work, there was a Tourism Events Specialist position that was never taken forward. The Board either needed to take this position off the table or move it forward. Chairman Lazzara stated he agreed as there were a lot of initiatives that the Authority could not continue to ask the staff to facilitate. Our task has become larger than it appears. There was a tremendous amount of work that went behind what was presented. All the events that were looked at had great value towards the community, but he didn t feel all of them were following the mission. A motion was made by Bill Hemmingway and seconded by Ken Hagan to delay consideration of the Tourism Development Fund Allocations until the next meeting. Chairman Lazzara recommended that they hold a voting Board Member meeting to discuss the Tourism Development Fund Allocations prior to the next scheduled meeting in May. Mr. Hemmingway asked if the Board could also talk about the Tourism Events Specialist at the next meeting as it was an important issue. Mr. Hagan stated that it
Page 10 would be a meeting that John Carter would need to be at. Mr. Carter stated he would be able to attend. A vote was taken on the motion and was unanimously adopted. Consideration of a request from the Museum of the Marine Mr. Hargett stated that the request from the Museum of the Marine was for continued fund development. They had new leadership and he introduced Dave Brown, Chairman of the Board for the Museum of the Marine. There was also a request for $7,500 to produce a video that would be used as a promotional item in addition to the Case Study that was completed and now available. Mr. Hagan asked if their request last year was $60,000. Mr. Hargett stated that $60,000 was appropriated over a two year period of time and all of it was paid directly to the development fund company. He stated he attended the July 2013 kickoff event which appeared like they were making progress. Some reports had been provided after the kickoff event, and staff was recommending regular reports. Mr. Hemmingway asked for LtCol Brown to provide comments about the changes being made. LtCol Brown stated that 142 prominent leaders were invited on May 8 to an hour long briefing at the Landfall County Club in Wilmington. This was the first time they were going outside Onslow County making presentations for donations. They have also spoken to several possible donors in the Baltimore area. Things were coming together and now they were in the execution mode. Mr. Hagan asked what their time frame was. LtCol Brown stated that they were hoping to raise $20 million within the next two years. They had the initiative and momentum. In January 2013, a lease was requested from the Navy so that they could start Phase I at the Memorial Gardens which would be a 3½ acre park with an Eagle, Globe and Anchor sculpture. This would prove that they do exist and were on target which would also help their momentum. Mr. Hargett stated that the request was for $10,000 a month for a year for consultant fees and $7,500 for the production of a promotional video; however, at this time they were requesting $15,000 of the $60,000 with the additional amount being based on their progress and considered at a later time. Mr. Hagan asked if awarding the amount was time sensitive. LtCol Brown stated that $7,500 would help for the animated video in their presentations and he would like the consultant to start and test the water in several areas. Mr. Hagan stated he would like more time to review the requests.
Page 11 A motion was made by Bill Hemmingway and seconded by Fannie Coleman to defer the request for review at the special meeting prior to the next meeting in May. Linzi Thomas stated that in considering the two requests, the $7,500 was for the video to help with presentations and marketing. She asked if it could be considered now outside the consultant fee. Mr. Hagan stated that it could be discussed, but if it was time sensitive they should use their funds and ask for reimbursement if the request is approved. He was not suggesting that they would not be funded, but more time was needed for review. A vote was taken on the motion and it was passed unanimously. Community Branding Update Mr. Hargett stated that the Authority members were provided with significant research. This would be an action item in the future. Status Reports Tourism Work by the Chamber Theresa Carter reported that they hosted a Hotel-Motel meeting in March where Alex Naar from ECU provided survey results from the visitor study. In April, ENC Publications discussed how hotels could reach the military. Shawn Nelson was the speaker at the Event and Festival Planners Workshop. He spoke about giving customers more choices on how they paid for items at events. Ms. Carter stated she participated in the UNC School of Government Occupancy Tax Webinar which was very informative. Onslow County Tourism hosted the Friends from the Mountain to the Sea. They were excited about adding this new trail to Onslow County in the August timeframe. It had been following Route 70 and the Neuse River and now they were adding an alternative route that would go through Pender and Onslow Counties including Jacksonville and Swansboro. Ms. Carter attended the Governor s Conference with Ms. Leagon in Charlotte in March. She felt they would get some public relations material from the visit. Occupancy Tax figures were down 2.43% in February, but holding at.74% for the year. City of Jacksonville Occupancy Tax Collections Mr. Hargett stated that the City s report would be skipped in the interest of time. The report was in the packet.
Page 12 Authority Governance Engagement of an Auditor Gayle Maides stated that the JTDA was included in the City bids that went out for audit. It made sense to use the same company, so audit controls did not have to be looked at twice and would save money. Bids were received from McGladrey LLP for $4,000 and Carr, Riggs, and Ingram for $4,300. The City appointed McGladrey LLP and staff s recommendation was for JTDA to appoint the same. The Authority would need to approve the letter and audit contract which was included in the packet. She distributed the SAS 114 letter which gave information on how to contact the auditor if there were any concerns. A motion was made by Ken Hagan, seconded by Bill Hemmingway and unanimously approved to accept the bid and appoint McGladrey LLP as auditor for the JTDA. Presentation of the Proposed Budget Mr. Hargett presented the proposed budget which was similar to what was set in the past and stated that a public hearing needed to be set. The next regular meeting was scheduled for May 15, 2014 at 1:30 PM. A motion was made by Ken Hagan, seconded by MellaDee York, and unanimously approved to set the Public Hearing for the proposed budget at the next regular meeting on May 15, 2014. It was agreed that the proposed budget would be adopted at the same meeting on May 15, 2014. The special meeting for consideration of the Tourism Development Fund Allocations for FY15 was set for Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 9:00 AM. Adjourn A motion was made by Bill Hemmingway, seconded by Ken Hagan, and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at 11:46 AM.