BEMIDJI — After decades of deficits and at times controversy surrounding venue management of the Sanford Event Center, the city of Bemidji is now preparing to manage the venue in house.
Ahead of the Bemidji City Council action on Tuesday, Sept. 8, Sanford Center Sales and Marketing Manager Ethan Rogers asked the council to reconsider the proposed in-house staffing plan.
“You've eliminated whole department areas, pieces that are necessary for the Sanford Center to operate: events, production, sponsorships, to name a few,” Rogers said. “There are currently employees that are spread so thin that 50, 60-plus hour work weeks are normal.”
The plan includes the city adding 10 full-time employees, including a deputy city manager. Currently, the center operates with 16 full-time employees.
Under the tentative plan, City Manager Rich Spiczka would take on the executive director position at the Sanford Center. Longtime Sanford Center employee Bobby Anderson is presently the venue’s general manager.
Throughout the meeting, Spiczka said while he lacks venue management experience, this would be a starting point for the city to get into the industry.
“It's not working how we're doing it right now. For the benefit of the city, it's not working,” he said. “So this plan is a multitude of things that helps us integrate, that helps us have staff that work both ways to help us build something.”
Bemidji first signed a contract with ASM Global in 2022, after terminating its contract with its previous management company, VenuWorks.
In the nearly two decades since its construction, the Sanford Center has operated at significant deficits.
The city and its taxpayers have covered the annual losses out of its general fund, while also paying a management fee, paying back construction bonds and addressing capital improvement needs.
Turnover of leadership at the center has also been high, with previous executive directors resigning, getting fired or even getting charged with theft.
Ward 5 representative Lynn Eaton said he has been a suite holder since the inception of the Sanford Center on Lake Bemidji’s south shore, and that he has felt invested in its success.
“We can't continue to do the same thing and expect different results,” he said before the 6-1 vote. “The results that we have are unacceptable to the community.”
The sole nay vote came from Ward 4’s Emelie Rivera, the council’s longest-serving member, who expressed doubts that the city would be ready to take on this challenge.
“What I'm reading, what I'm hearing is, we don't know what it takes,” she said. “And I don't know that in a year's time, we would necessarily have that opportunity even, because of protected trade secrets and things like that.”
The city's current contract with Legends Global, formerly known as ASM Global, expires in March.
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