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Pritchett, Shawn
City Council; TenHaken, Paul; Beck, Erica
City Council Managers; Eckhoff, Jeff
CVB Proposal - September 15 Consent Agenda
Monday, September 14, 2020 7:36:32 AM
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**PLEASE DO NOT REPLY ALL**
 
Councilors:
 
The presentation of the CVB BID budget at the Council meeting a few weeks ago illuminated the
challenges they are currently facing.  Several Council Members have reached out raising concerns
not just about the financial challenges, but also the opportunity for the City to capitalize on
promoting itself as a safe place to host events when many communities are closed or not allowing
events in any way.  In fact, the CVB this week is reporting an unusually high uptick in national
organizations inquiring about relocating meetings and sporting events to Sioux Falls from much
larger facilities and metro areas.
 
There are some other factors to consider as well.  The recent announcement by the Pavilion to
cancel its performance series is the latest tangible example of how hard it is to secure or rely upon
any touring acts in the foreseeable future; a trend that will likely continue into next year. 
Discussions are being had with the Pavilion and ASM Global about the need to pivot to more selfproduced events to replace the loss of these options in the community this fall and winter.  The need
is more than just entertainment.  Inclement weather is coming, and options for readily accessible
outdoor recreation alternatives will be more limited.  With the impacts of COVID continuing, it will
be extremely important for the physical and mental health of our residents to have safe alternatives
to get out of their homes in the weeks and months ahead. 
 
Working with the CVB, we hope to provide more cross promotional marketing of events throughout
the fall and winter 2020-2021.  This would include marketing internally to our community, as well as
packaging events and marketing regionally to attract more day and overnight visitors to the
community.  On the Consent Agenda for the September 15 Council Meeting, you will find an
agreement with the CVB specifically for this purpose.  The agreement provides $225,000 to support
these efforts at a time when the CVB has limited marketing funds available due to drastic reductions
in both lodging and BID tax receipts.  While budget authority is available through Planning and
Development to support this request in the current budget year, we have structured the agreement
in such a way that if additional CARES act funding is made available (by means of additional
distribution or redistribution), that we could potentially seek reimbursement for the cost of this
initiative.
 
I will be happy to answer any questions you have prior to the Council meeting or at the meeting. 
This is moving forward fairly quickly, but time is of the essence to take advantage of this opportunity
that could benefit the community substantially.  Since there is no City Council meeting after
September 15 until October 6, we were looking to get this on the Consent Agenda for the upcoming
meeting.
 

 Director of Finance A 5
605.367.8837

Shawn Pritchett any DF
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