New A&P chairman discusses plans for 2021
The Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission has selected State and Pride Provisions Co. owner Paul Lynch as its chairman and Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort General Manager Wayne Smith as its vice chairman.
The appointments begin in January.
Lynch, who succeeds Elizabeth Farris, has been a member of the commission since October 2017.
He said the focus of the commission needs to be getting conventions back to town and utilizing advertising.
“I think that we’ve done a pretty good job of conserving our cash, even though we’re certainly not generating the revenues we’re used to generating because of the pandemic, but I do expect as we come out of the pandemic there will be a push to get our regular conventioneers back, and also there will be an advertising push to make sure we get folks back to Hot Springs that maybe have fallen off during this time,” he said.
As for taking on the role of chairman during the pandemic, Lynch said it will be a challenge, as everyone has been affected.
“Anyone who has a business in town is being affected by the pandemic, and we’re certainly concerned with how quickly we’re going to get out of this. I think when it started, we all thought, ‘This will be done by the summertime,’ and obviously that hasn’t happened.
“I think we’re all very optimistic about the vaccine prospects … but we definitely need to harness all of our resources available, whether it’s marketing, whether it’s a community as a whole, to make sure we’re doing what we need to do on an advertising front to get folks back,” he said.
“I think Bill Solleder (director of marketing for Visit Hot Springs) has a very solid plan that he’s been implementing to move us away from traditional print advertising, more towards digital, which makes a lot of
sense and the metrics support it,” Lynch said, “and we need to continue to push those stories about our businesses that are going to attract tourists to our community to come stay at our hotels, come eat at our restaurants and to come make Hot Springs a better place.”
As a fellow business owner, he said he plans to work as hard as he can to continue to help the businesses in the community.
“I think we have a tremendous opportunity here,” Lynch said, “and I think we’re only scratching the surface of our potential, and I want people to know to feel free to call me. If you’ve got a question about the A&P or what’s going on — because a lot of times there’s not always complete information out there, so I’m happy to talk to folks, and if somebody has got an idea, let me know.”
According to a Visit Hot Springs news release, in addition to owning and operating State and Pride Provisions Company, a downtown outdoor apparel, gift and souvenir shop that caters to tourists, Lynch also owns Destination Point LLC, a vacation home rental business that serves visitors to Lake Hamilton. He is also a partner in the law firm of Crow, Durbin and Speights, where he focuses on business law and transactions.
He has been president of the Downtown Association of Hot Springs, an organization of downtown businesses that works to promote the city, and has served on the board of directors of the Friends of Hot Springs National Park, the release said. He currently sits on the board of directors of the Oaklawn Foundation.
Smith, who has been a commissioner since March 2019, said the commission needs to continue to be fluid with the pandemic and promote the city.
“We’ve had to pivot over the last number of months since the pandemic,” Smith said. “It’s been a very fluid situation throughout these five or six months. … I think the Visit Hot Springs group, the team that Steve Arrison oversees, has done a great job in helping those small businesses navigate through all of that, and I think as we continue on through that into the new year, we’re just going to have to monitor it and adjust accordingly.
“There’s really not any new types of things we can add in, I think right now it’s just all centered around trying to navigate through these protocols and as we were doing over the past six months, still promoting the city of Hot Springs and trying to make sure that people understand they are safe, which we are doing everything we can to make people feel safe whether it’s through hotels, restaurants, bars. We’re continually having to change and that’s no different from any business right now.”
According to the release, Smith has served as president of Fifty for the Future and a board member of The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce.
“I’m passionate about tourism,” he said. “I’m passionate about small business, and … we’ll do everything we can to make Hot Springs a place that tourists want to continue to come to, and hopefully all the businesses that are open will continue to thrive.”