CONVENTION CENTER AUTHORITY ELECTS OFFICERS

CONVENTION CENTER AUTHORITY ELECTS OFFICERS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2014

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Convention Center Authority voted this morning to re-elect Marty Dickens as Chair of the Convention Center Authority for this coming fiscal year. Vonda McDaniel was re-elected as Vice-Chair and Mona Lisa Warren was re-elected as Secretary/Treasurer.

The Convention Center Authority also voted to permit an addendum to their current procurement policy that will allow the Purchasing Department of the Music City Center to consider a proposer's Diversity Plan as a part of the evaluation criteria and to request that proposers provide the Authority with information regarding their diversity and inclusion strategy.

"Our goal for the DBE program has always been to make sure we do everything possible to assist minority, woman, small businesses and service disable veteran owned businesses," said Charles Starks, President/CEO of the Music City Center. "This addendum will allow us some flexibility in the procurement process that will encourage an increase in purchasing from these businesses."

The Authority also announced fiscal year 2014 numbers. During fiscal year 2014, the Music City Center hosted 342 events with 491,352 attendees, generating 272,917 room nights for a total of $243 million in economic impact. In June, the Music City Center hosted 29 events with 86,009 attendees, generating over 100,000 room nights for a total of $52 million in economic impact. Tax collections continue to outperform projections and the Music City Center portion of tax collections was up 21.69 percent year over year for April 2014.

"We are very proud of where we ended up this first fiscal year, not only from a sales standpoint but also operationally," said Starks. "The fact that we have generated over $240 million in direct economic impact during our first fiscal year is unprecedented."

The Music City Center welcomes the National Association of Music Merchants next week followed by ASAE in the beginning of August, an event that will bring thousands of respected meeting planners and prospective customers to Nashville.

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About the Music City Center

The Music City Center, Nashville’s convention center, features a 353,143 square foot exhibit hall, the 57,500 square foot Karl F. Dean Grand Ballroom, and an 18,000 square foot Davidson Ballroom. The building includes an art collection featuring local and regional artists, a covered three-level parking garage with 1,800 spaces, and is LEED Gold certified. The Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame is also located inside the Music City Center at the corner of 6^th Avenue and Demonbreun.