Tourism director may not be financially feasible, board accountant says

The Corbin Tourist and Convention Commission discussed Monday the idea of hiring a Tourism Director and vowed in the coming months to study what the potential duties of a director would be, or if the position is even necessary at all.

The issue came up during the Commission’s monthly meeting. Tourism Commission Chair Suzie Razmus said she recently got job descriptions for Tourism Directors in Rockcastle County and Frankfort to use as a starting point to determine what Corbin might need. She noted that since the Commission already has "quite a large payroll" – employing a maintenance man, secretary and accountant – that the duties of a director hired in Corbin would be diminished. She said she favors keeping more employees over the idea of having one person do multiple jobs.

Members turned to Board Accountant Kyle Perkins for a financial analysis of the situation. Perkins offered a pragmatic view, saying that after salary, and other necessary expenses, any director hired would be hamstrung by a lack of funds to work with.

"From a purely financial perspective, we see it as a break even," Perkins told the Commisison. "You almost hamper the person you bring in from doing any type of effective job. There is just no money."

The Tourism Commission budgeted $40,000 this year for the hiring of a director. Perkins also pointed out that the board would have to carefully consider what a director would actually do since it already has three employees doing many of the duties a single director would take care of in other towns.

"Are they directing tourism or are they taking care of answering the phone or sending out pamphlets?"

Commission member Sudhir Patel said that before the construction of the Southeast Kentucky Agriculture and Exposition Center in south Corbin, city officials and Tourism leaders had agreed that whatever company ended up managing the 5,000-seat arena could also provide some director-type guidance to the Tourism Commission.

Razmus said she agreed with the idea and hoped there is a way to "tap into" the arena management firm so that the commission could save money.

The Arena is managed by SMG Worldwide Entertainment and Conventions Venue Management, a Philadelphia-based company that is one of the world leaders in managing such facilities. The company has a one-year contract to manage The Arena for the city.

Hiring a director is one of the prime recommendations of the 20/20 Vision Plan – a roadmap for community improvement that was devised earlier this year by community and business leaders at the urging of the Corbin Chamber of Commerce and with help from the Kentucky Association for Economic Development and facilitators from Eastern Kentucky University.
In other business, the commission:

¥ Agreed to give a $250 sponsorship for the First Annual Corbin Disc Golf Tournament, which will be held at Miller Park this Saturday. The event is part of a tour sponsored by AT&T. Currently, 11 people are registered to participate for the event. Organizers expect at least 25.

Disc golf plays with rules similar to regular golf, only players use three Frisbee-like discs, trying to toss them into a basket in as few throws as possible.

¥ Briefly discussed changes to the Commission’s website, www.corbinkytourism.com. Razmus said Tier3, the company that designed the Commission’s current site, is making the changes for free.

¥ Discussed problems with members of the Tri-County Youth Soccer Association using bathrooms at the Corbin Civic Center on game days.

Todd Isaacs, who performs maintenance duties for the Commission, said recently the Civic Center was flooded because towels were stuffed into the drain of a sink and it was left running.

Members discussed banning use of the Civic Center by the soccer group. Group leaders apparently have keys to the building.

In the end, Razmus said she would try to find out more about the situation. No action was taken.

¥ Discussed buying a stove for the Civic Center.

¥ Discussed a discounted rate for the Rotary Club’s annual International Dinner. After a lengthy discussion about the inadequacy of the current policy of a 10 percent discount for non-profit organizations, members decided more study of the issue was necessary.

¥ Voted to approve a contract with Pyro Shows, Inc. to provide a Fourth of July fireworks show next year. The Commission gets a 20 percent discount for doing so.

¥ Discussed member attendance at two upcoming tourism-related conferences.