Convention Center may reassign employees

Phoenix wants to reassign 25 employees who work for the Phoenix Convention Center and to reduce the hours of others as bookings at the downtown venue have plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

City staffers propose to reduce 36 part-time employees to zero hours unless they’re supporting events, and another 11 part-timers would have a third of their hours cut, according to city spokesperson Nick Valenzuela. The city proposes to freeze another 43 vacant full- and part-time convention center positions.

“The city is committed to working with our part-time staff to identify other part-time opportunities within the organization,” Valenzuela said.

The City Council is scheduled to consider the proposal on Wednesday.

The move comes as the novel coronavirus has halted business travel, and the city has brought in millions less in revenue than expected as groups cancel conventions and trade shows at the city-owned convention center.

Since mid-March, 73% of the convention and trade show business scheduled for 2020 has been canceled, and the city anticipates more

cancellations

Valenzuela.

The canceled conventions include 52 groups and a city-estimated loss of $235 million in direct visitor spending.

The Phoenix Convention Center includes north, south and west buildings on a main campus, Symphony Hall and Orpheum Theatre.

The convention center’s key business is hosting conferences that bring in a few thousand attendees, often people from out of state who haven’t been to

next

year,

according

to

Phoenix or haven’t been in a while, Jerry Harper, the convention center’s deputy director, told The Republic in 2018.

The convention center also helps attract massive events to downtown Phoenix, such as for the Super Bowl in 2015. Phoenix Fan Fusion, which attracts up to 75,000 attendees from around the country each May, was postponed until September and then canceled entirely for the year.

To make up for the loss, convention center staff is proposing operating budget cuts, fewer capital projects and redstaffing “to ensure the convention center can sustain itself until the industry recovers from the pandemic,” Valenzuela said.

The convention center employs 189 full-time and 68 part-time staff, according to Valenzuela.

Of the 68 part-time positions, 21 are vacant, he said. The vacant positions will be frozen and possibly filled in the future.

“With many of the cancellations being rebooked for future years, the goal of the department is to recall employees as soon as possible when we return to normal business operations,” Valenzuela said.

The money the city makes hosting events at the convention center has never been enough to cover what it costs to operate.

The city pulls in most of the money needed to operate it through earmarked taxes, including a portion of the city’s hotel, restaurant and bar, construction contracting and advertising taxes.

In the fiscal year that ended in June, the convention center was budgeted to bring in nearly $92 million, but actual revenues came in at $75 million, which was $3 million less than expenses.

The city dropped its expectations this fiscal year, estimating the convention center will bring in about $56 million. Total expenses are projected to be $83.5 million, according to the city.