Crested Butte Council considering conditional support for Chamber

Town wants to make sure events are in the works

The Crested Butte Town Council expressed some concerns at its March 5 meeting about future support for the local chamber of commerce but overall appeared ready to enter into a service agreement with the business organization. The council wants to make sure that upcoming summer events come off and the visitor center remains open.

Chamber board member Dave Clayton gave the council a thorough presentation on the state of the chamber at the Town Council meeting last Monday. The council then grilled him on their concerns about the chamber, which has found itself in financial hot water.
“It has certainly been a tumultuous year for the chamber,” admitted Clayton. “That is because of the organization’s financial state and the changes in management.”
Clayton outlined a number of reasons the chamber’s finances were in dire straits. He said the two visitor centers are heavily manned seven days a week. The chamber puts on more than a half dozen events ranging from Crested Butte Bike Week and the Fourth of July festivities to Restaurant Week and the fall Beer and Chili Fest. Not all of those events make a profit. Management positions were top-heavy with three and a half full-time equivalent employees.
Given the volatile nature of the chamber situation in the last year with the termination of executive director Richard Bond, memberships were down and thus income dropped significantly. The chamber had also run up a $50,000 line of credit since 2008. Significant staff costs had “added to the financial woes,” Clayton explained.
Clayton outlined how busy the organization was with 36,000 walk-in inquiries recorded last year at the visitor centers. The chamber also ran the business ski pass program for Crested Butte Mountain Resort.
Several charts presented to the council showed how the board hoped to turn around the chamber’s financial situation.
“We seated some new board members last week and had a busy membership meeting last Thursday,” Clayton said. “We have an engaged board and lots of participation from the membership. We have a reenergized base.”
Clayton also said the chamber has come up with a conservative 2012 budget. “I think we have bottomed out on our renewal rate and we will get more members than we budgeted for,” he said.
“We are trying some new things to get new members. For example, we have a deal with Trippons.com that members can use for free. That is a new chamber benefit.”
The chamber currently has about 300 members, Clayton estimated. That is down from about 370 the previous year.
Clayton said the board is in the process of hiring a new executive director. An interim events person should be hired this week to begin planning Crested Butte Bike Week, with someone permanently in place in the events position by the end of May.
He said having the chamber operate the visitor centers is a benefit to everyone. “The members feel that is important. The towns don’t have to do it and we have done it for many years and do a good job,” he said.
The chamber board is also taking several action steps. They are negotiating to pay off the line of credit over five or six years. They will look at making memberships more attractive. They are going from three and a half full-time employees to two and a half. “The new executive director will also be the membership director and be responsible for the visitor centers,” Clayton explained. “The bottom line is that we want to build a strong and vibrant organization.”
Clayton said the chamber wants to put in place new service agreements with the towns. Crested Butte, for example, pays the chamber about $45,000 annually and leases the visitor’s center to the chamber for $1 a year.
Mayor Aaron Huckstep had concerns about using that $45,000 to help pay down the outstanding loan. “I’m not sure it’s even legal under the ballot language that was passed for the BOLT tax,” he said. “That is something that is not crystal clear. That’s a big issue.”
Huckstep expressed concern that with the staff cuts, the summer events would be incomplete. “Scott Still [former chamber events coordinator] said he was always slammed this time of year. You guys cut the staff and events are coming up sooner than we think. How will that work out?”
“We are taking some visitor center responsibilities away from that position, so it should help,” responded Clayton. “Bike Week takes some time and the organizing needs to start soon. I am confident we can put on an event that makes money. That’s why we want to get at least a temporary coordinator in place this week for that event. The Fourth of July can be planned closer to the actual event.”
“We need to tighten up the service agreement,” added Huckstep. “There are a lot of things that are in there that haven’t been enforced.”
“We are open to that,” Clayton said. “We are also looking at our bylaws and policies and procedures to tighten them up. The first priority was getting a workable budget in the black for 2012. The next priority is getting an executive director on board.”
Councilperson Jim Schmidt had a concern about the use of the visitor center and would like to see all businesses in Crested Butte, chamber members or not, receive equal treatment at the facility. “Because the town supplied the BOLT tax to run the visitor center, I’ve always had a hard time that chamber members were given priority,” he said. “I think every business in town should be treated fairly. That’s something I’m concerned with and I’d like to see it in the new service agreement.”
“We can look at that,” promised Clayton.
“There are some definite issues hanging out there with the town,” emphasized Huckstep. “Is the membership willing to help pay off some of the debt? Are there other ways to deal with the debt situation? Is it realistic for the town to take over the visitor’s center and events? Or maybe partner with Mt. Crested Butte?”
“I’d rather have the chamber do those things,” said Schmidt. “I think it was a mistake to go to the voluntary chamber in 2002.”
“Does the chamber want to do the fireworks again?” asked Councilperson Roland Mason.
“No. We don’t do fireworks,” Clayton bluntly stated.
“As for the other events, it is getting late and we need to tell the chamber to move forward with the planning,” added Councilperson David Owen.
Huckstep indicated there still appeared to be a significant risk with the future of the chamber. “The chamber has had a history of rough patches. That plays into my thinking. I think we need to look at a new service agreement and have the town attorney look at whether the town can use the BOLT tax to pay off debt.”
“Having to pay off the debt is a huge cloud hanging over the chamber,” said Schmidt.
“The board is trying to work our way out of this and move forward,” responded Clayton.
“It looks like the chamber is at the bottom and coming out, so I think it is important to support the chamber at this time,” said Owen.
The rest of the council agreed and will look at a revised service contract at the next meeting. They will also receive legal advice on how the BOLT money can be spent. That meeting is scheduled for March 19.