Plageman was recently hired by the Montgomery County Convention Facilities Authority (CFA) that will soon take over ownership of the convention center from the city of Dayton and begin collecting an additional 3% in lodging tax in March within the county to pay for upgrades to the facility built in 1973.
On Thursday, the CFA board approved the formation of several committees, including a task force that will work toward selecting a private management company to operate the venue.
Convention centers in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo are all operated by private management companies. The firms have more resources in the way of technology, marketing, sales and purchasing power as well as staffing and equipment that might be shared between venues, Plageman said.
Chris Kershner, president and CEO of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, joined the meeting to discuss the work of a past community task force convened in 2017 and came up with recommendations for the convention center that including forming a CFA, hiring an executive director and putting in place a new hotel tax.
“The next step is having that venue management firm,” he said. “It’s really just the next step in the execution of that plan.”
A large multi-venue management company is likely to bring more business to the facility, Kershner said.
“There is a lot of benefit you get from that,” he said. “They are going to attract new clients to Dayton that we’ve never seen before.”
Even if a client requests nearby facilities run by the same firm, Dayton could still wind up with more business in cases when those facilities are booked, Kershner said.
“They’re going to push that client off to the next closest venue that they manage, which will be right here in downtown Dayton,” he said. “So that’s a huge advantage for us.”
Plageman hopes the board will have a management company selected within three months.
“We really don’t have that much time, we need to be able to hire and be ready to operate with a management team, so our timeline is accelerated,” she said.
The transfer of ownership from the city of Dayton is tentatively scheduled for the end of March and the current plan is to open doors May 1, Plageman said.
“We have got to have lots of things happen before then,” she said.
The CFA was formed in November 2019 with an agreement between Dayton and Montgomery County as an effort to breathe new life into the convention center, which has operated at a loss since 2012. Studies by a consultant and the local task force in recent years indicated the facility required $15.2 million to $28 million in upgrades.
Projects are moving forward despite the pandemic, including preliminary work to assess and collect bids for a new heating and air conditioning system and partial roof replacement, Plageman said.
“The HVAC system is very dated and past its life,” she said. “And we have to address some leaks and things like that just to make sure it’s safe and comfortable for our guests.”
Plageman said events are being booked, including weddings, but still no large gatherings due to current restrictions.
“That’s going to happen one day, but it’s going to take time,” she said.
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