Blue Water Convention Center getting $1 million MEDC grant to offset revenue lost because of COVID

Jackie Smith, Port Huron Times Herald
·3 min read
A sign posted on the doors of the Blue Water Convention Center in spring 2020 tells visitors that all public and consumer shows have been canceled during the coronavirus pandemic.
A sign posted on the doors of the Blue Water Convention Center in spring 2020 tells visitors that all public and consumer shows have been canceled during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Blue Water Convention Center is poised to get a $1 million award through the state that local officials said is to help reimburse revenue lost because of COVID-19.

But the period it's aimed to cover ended more than a year ago, and since, officials said business at the facility has begun to ramp back up.

County Administrator Karry Hepting said the lost revenue for the award through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation was calculated based on the 18 months the facility was shut down earlier in the pandemic. Gino Giacumbo, general manager at the convention center via ASM Global, pointed to the period from early 2020 to mid-2021.

St. Clair County commissioners signed off on the grant agreement earlier in May.

"In 2020, the state of Michigan passed legislation granting relief to convention centers due (to) the state imposed shutdown. The MEDC created the application that included a population requirement that the county did not meet. The population requirement was not part of the legislation, only the application. We were the only convention center disqualified based on population," Hepting said via email.

Both county administration and County Board Chairman Jeff Bohm had credited Sen. Dan Lauwers and the county’s consultant lobbying firm with helping engineer reapplication of the grant. During that period, when both revenue and expenses on the facility were low, the county still paid the bills.

“As for challenges, it wasn't that bad once we reopened in June of 2021. We had a decent amount of events … with limited staff, but as the number of events increased, we were fortunate to ramp back up to full staff by 2022,” Giacumbo said via email Friday.

“We are seeing the backlog of conferences and conventions that had to postpone in 2020 and again in 2021 now cramming into 2022. The winter surge in cases did cause some early 2022 COVID cancelations of in-person events, such as the Radio First Bridal Show, the Boat Show, a billiards tournament, the Radio First Home Sport, and Garden Show, Hope Blooms, and Little Black Dress (which went virtual).

“Nevertheless, we are still booked in 2022 to have the most conferences and conventions of any year to date.”

Participants in the 2020 Float Down pass the Blue Water Bridge and the convention center during the unsanctioned event Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020, on the St. Clair River in Port Huron.
Participants in the 2020 Float Down pass the Blue Water Bridge and the convention center during the unsanctioned event Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020, on the St. Clair River in Port Huron.

Giacumbo said the booked hotel room night figures as a result of just incoming conventions were more than double that of 2019:

  • 2018: 1,552 room nights

  • 2019: 1,936 room nights

  • 2020: 445 room nights

  • 2021: 908 room nights

  • 2022: 4,515 room nights

So far this year, he said they’ve hosted RV and camper, gun and knife, and hot tub and spa shows, and that they were awaiting another gun and knife show, as well as an international comic-con this fall.

Between the end of April 2021 and this year, both revenue and spending at the convention center had jumped hundreds of thousands of dollars after the return to business, according to the county’s budget summaries.

As of March 31 of this year, the convention center had reported a net income of $391,585. That’s versus an income loss reported as of the end of April roughly a year prior.

During a May 19 meeting, Bohm talked about the county’s consulting firm, Strategic Communication Solutions — referring to them as Strategic Federal Affairs, which has lobbied at the national level for the county in the past — and the population threshold the county hadn't initially met for the grant.

“Population number was 170 (thousand)," he said. “So, they actually took this and worked with them. … A lot of work, a lot of beating on doors and working with Dan Lauwers’ office to get that.”

Strategic Communication Solutions, Inc. is under a three-year agreement that’s not to exceed $270,000 with the county. It expires in August 2023, and the monthly retainer was $6,500 plus fees for grant writing services.

The firm’s contractual objective covers a list of legislative priorities, including economic development, alternative energy, homeland security, transportation, public health, public safety, and education, among others.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Blue Water Convention Center getting $1M MEDC grant related to COVID