There is no going back for the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau, according to Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall's stern statement at a City Council meeting Monday.
"You guys have worked very hard, but it isn't working," Hall told bureau representatives who filled the council chambers.
He said that by the beginning of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, the organization will still exist but not in its current form.
Sun Valley Mayor Wayne Willich expressed the same opinion, but the cities don't directly control the bureau. And, Ketchum Councilwoman Nina Jonas argued, it's a "slap in the face" for the cities to "presume" they can make the bureau change to suit their desires.
Even though the cities don't directly oversee the visitors bureau, their combined $600,000 contract for services with the bureau makes up more than half its $1.2 million budget. The mayors want to place the visitors bureau beneath a marketing board, not yet created, which would be tasked with marketing the Sun Valley resort area to the outside world.
The marketing board would start with five members, each posting a résumé boasting resort and tourism marketing experience. Each mayor would choose a city representative, Sun Valley Resort General Manager Tim Silva would represent the resort and two members would be chosen at large from the community. Willich said he'd announce his pick at Monday's Sun Valley City Council meeting and Hall said he'd announce his in days.
This board would then hire and oversee a chief marketing officer in charge of two separate things: marketing operations and the visitors bureau. The bureau would no longer do any external marketing, but would still plan community events and handle visitor/customer services.
The mayors are proposing that the two cities each give $400,000 to the marketing board. The chief marketing officer would then decide allocation of those dollars to marketing and the visitors bureau.
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Carol Waller, executive director of the visitors bureau, presented next year's budget to the council on Monday and said the bureau supports a separate marketing effort. Her budget shows the visitors bureau no longer doing any external marketing but limiting its efforts to those outlined in the mayors' plan: events and visitor services. The bureau's budget would be $550,000—half of last year's—asking $275,000 of Ketchum and $195,000 of Sun Valley, with $80,000 coming from other sources.
"If marketing and visitor services were separate, this is what we thought would be needed," Waller said. "We think change is healthy. We're not being territorial."
Besides the downsized budget, the bureau has made other voluntary changes. The board of directors decided to downsize from 16 to 10 members at Friday's monthly meeting to make it easier to get things done. The eliminated board members are Bryan Furlong of Zions Bank, John Glenn from Company of Fools, Brian Kriesien of KB's Burritos, Anita Northwood of High Country Resort Properties, Steve Riccabona of Riccabona's restaurant and Maurice Charlat representing the community at large.
"The new board will immediately formulate a plan to ensure an effective transition between current and future marketing initiatives," stated the board's news release announcing the change.
Even though the bureau is asking for funding separate from the marketing board, the mayors are proposing that no money be given directly to the visitors bureau, just a total of $800,000 given to the marketing board, which would oversee the bureau. Now, the city councils need to decide if they're on board.
The Ketchum council heard an earful Monday from business owners and chamber board members who said people come here because of the unique community events. And the area can't risk losing those.
"Nobody is talking about cutting out special events," Hall said, adding that the bureau would continue to plan events. But, he said, the "status quo" is no more.
Board member Teresa Beahen-Lipman said the board understands that a shift in marketing responsibilities is inevitable, but the visitors bureau shouldn't lose its function as a chamber supporting 450 business members.
The mayors' proposal recommends that the visitors bureau drop its other function as a chamber of commerce. Community businesses could then form a separate chamber of their own.
While Waller and bureau board President Rob Santa expressed support for a new marketing effort, they said the bureau's chamber functions should remain. Ketchum Councilman Baird Gourlay agreed. Waller said members of the business community have expressed a desire to keep their chamber and be involved with the new marketing effort.
"They want to be marketing partners, somehow," Waller said.
"Not disowned," Santa added.
Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com
Carol Waller, executive director of the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau, describes the organization’s scaled-back budget for fiscal year 2011. Photo by Willy Cook
