Politics & Government

Chamber Halves Seed Cost for Convention, Visitors Bureau Proposal

Chamber to ask for $65,000 instead of $150,000 in first year to run CVB

Beachwood Mayor Merle Gorden told City Council during a special meeting Monday that their first-year costs for a Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) could be cut by more than half.

The Beachwood Area Chamber of Commerce at a January City Council meeting, asking for $150,000 annually from the city's lodging tax account to run the services.

The Chamber is expected to make a new presentation April 2 that would ask for $65,000 in initial costs and $150,000 annually beginning in 2013.

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Lawrence said that the Chamber was asked to submit a revised proposal that would call for a smaller initial cost and a later 2012 start date - possibly May 1. The Chamber will seek a multi-year contract to keep the costs flat.

An  concluded that such a bureau would help the city attract new businesses and residents.

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Chamber Executive Director Wayne Lawrence said the proposed Beachwood Convention and Visitor Bureau (CVB) would focus on marketing the city as a destination spot primarily for a secondary convention market of “social, military, educational, religious and fraternal” SMERF groups.

We'll have more details about this as they unfold.

*Editor's Note: The original version of this article said that the cost would be $65,000 annually.


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