Albany City Commission to consider independent Covention & Visitors Bureau

ALBANY — The Albany City Commission will decide early next year whether to make the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau an independent nonprofit agency rather than leaving it under the umbrella of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.

In a report to the City Commission at its final scheduled meeting of the year Tuesday morning, Ted Baggett, with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, laid out the findings from a governance study conducted by that agency at the request of the city. Baggett stopped short of recommending an action, but he did offer key findings that point toward breaking the CVB from the chamber.

“First of all, your Convention and Visitors Bureau appears to be doing well, they’re definitely following best practices,” Baggett told commissioners. “That might lead you to think, ‘Why fix something that isn’t broken?’ But the independent model, with the CVB serving as a 501 (c)(6) nonprofit agency seems to be the preferred model statewide.”

Baggett also said the local CVB has a “high level of compliance” with the financial arrangement of utilizing hotel/motel taxes to fund its operations and that since funding has remained “flat” for some time, the city might consider using a percentage-based funding plan that would be an incentive for the CVB.

The Vinson Institute official also suggested that, if the city chooses to allow the CVB to operate independently, it should guard to assure that the agency doesn’t “align itself too closely with other entities,” including the city itself.

CVB Executive Director Rashelle Beasley, who attended the commission meeting, said she doesn’t favor one method of operation over the other, but will abide by whatever decision the commission makes.

“What we’re concerned with is furthering our mission of serving the community,” Beasley said. “We’re ready to conduct business in whatever manner the commission decides. One advantage we have is that the chamber already allows us to be nimble in conducting our business, so (becoming an independent agency) would not be an abrupt change for us.

“We’ll be prepared for whatever decision the commission makes.”

City Manager Sharon Subadan said she called for the study after receiving requests from commissioners.

“First of all, I want to point out that our CVB is doing a fabulous job,” Subadan said. “But any time you have an opportunity to employ best practices, you should investigate it thoroughly. (Making convention and visitors bureaus independent agencies) is what’s happening statewide, and it makes sense for us to look into that. And we asked the Carl Vinson Institute to do the study because they do an excellent job and they are completely unbiased in making recommendations.

“In the end, though, this is a policy decision. It’s a decision that will be studied and then made by the commission.”

Since no timetable was set for a decision on the matter, Ward III Commissioner B.J. Fletcher asked Subadan to place the issue on the commission’s first meeting of the new year.