Tag: Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau

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Come visit… please

Both the city and county budgets include cuts for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau, potentially slowing marketing for touristy spots like Monticello. File photo.

The Charlottesville area’s tourism-dependent economy has felt the effects of the pandemic. “From Q4 2019 and Q4 2020, Albemarle County lost 44% employment in the Accommodations and Food Services Sectors,” wrote Eric Terry, president of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association, in a recent letter to Roger Johnson, the chair of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau. Calling the financial and workforce damage “unprecedented,” Terry also noted that hotel occupancies are down 50 percent.

Tourism sector advocates are now upset that both the city and county budgets for the next fiscal year include cuts for the CACVB, a government-funded board tasked with attracting tourists to town. 

The proposed CACVB budget from the city for the 2022 fiscal year is $946,848, down $265,843 from this year, and the county budget is $606,281, down $151,135, for a total reduction of $417,000 for FY 2022. The CACVB did receive $120,0000 from the federal CARES pandemic relief act, which went to transition offices from two brick-and-mortar buildings to two mobile visitor centers, one each for county and city. 

The CACVB and its supporters say the county stiffed the board by not giving enough lodging tax revenue back to the tourism industry.

The VRLTA points to a state statute that requires any lodging tax in excess of 2 percent be spent solely on tourism. The county charges a 5 percent lodging tax, but has proposed that next year the 3 percent excess be sent to the general fund, to cover the reduced CACVB budget as well as money for cultural community agencies and maintenance costs for the Parks & Recreation Department. 

Ann Mallek, a member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors who represents the county on the CACVB, says the state allows tourism dollars to go to parks “for something that benefits the tourists who come here for recreational purposes.” 

“We are in disagreement with the county about whether that is a way to support tourism,” counters Roy Van Doorn, the president of the Charlottesville VRLTA and a partner at City Select, which produces marketing brochures for the city and for UVA.  

Not surprisingly, Van Doorn believes the time is now for a marketing blitz. “At this point, all hotels in Virginia Beach are booked to capacity for the summer,” he says. “Those are people who won’t be spending their time and money here.” 

Some have suggested that the city and county use federal and local emergency funds to make up for the CACVB’s shortfall. 

“I am hopeful the budget for both fiscal years will be made whole through the localities’ receipt of funds from the American Rescue Plan,” says Courtney Cacatian, the chair of the CACVB, referring to the $1.9 trillion federal relief package. 

Charlottesville and Albemarle are set to receive over $30 million in total from the plan. Both the city and the county are currently in the process of determining how those funds will be distributed. The county has a public hearing scheduled for April 28. 

Mallek says the board’s request for county and city relief has been received and “we are talking about it.”

As the board fights for funding, some have expressed concerns about its effectiveness as a vehicle for helping the tourism industry.

In the letter to CACVB, Terry and Van Doorn faulted the CACVB’s composition as being out of touch with the industry itself. The board’s 15 members include just one representative from the hospitality industry, the Omni’s marketing director. The CEO of Veritas is the only board member who works in the food and drink industry. The board has several elected politicians, as well as various county and city officials. Terry says it is one of very few convention and visitors bureaus in the state with politicians on the board. 

The CACVB styles itself as a resource for local businesses. It produces a visitor’s guide and helps wedding and reunion parties find venues for their events. 

City Councilor Heather Hill, one of the city government’s representatives on the board, says that even before VRLTA raised concerns, CACVB was working on board development and focused on industry representation and experience, as well as equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Several business owners contacted by C-VILLE didn’t know much about the CACVB or its marketing. River Hawkins, a co-owner at The Bebedero, was not very familiar with the CACVB except for its Visitors Guide, but says “anything that brings people into my restaurant is great.”

Walter Burton, general manager at The Draftsman hotel, says that CACVB has been helpful in keeping communication lines open during the pandemic and has sent out business surveys to find out how people are doing. “They have done a great job keeping people involved,” Burton says.

Van Doorn, a partner in a local marketing firm, insists the answer is more marketing. He thinks there’s a perception that Charlottesville can coast on its reputation as a beautiful, historic, and relaxing location, but that keeping visitors coming will take proactive effort. “McDonald’s is number one, and it’s because they never stop marketing,” he explains. “We can’t just say we’re good and open the doors. It’s going to take perpetual marketing.”

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Upcoming vacancy: Visitors bureau to depart Transit Center, citing expense and declining tourism

The Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau plans to leave the Transit Center, where it’s been housed since the center opened in 2007. Staff photo.

Since the stylish, glass-walled Transit Center first opened in spring 2007 on the east end of the Downtown Mall, the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau has been a tenant in what was the city’s first LEED-certified building. That long-term relationship will soon end.

Even before the pandemic turned the mall into a ghost town, the number of visitors finding the tourist center was down, says Albemarle Supervisor Ann Mallek, who serves on the CACVB board. “The decision was based on the very few interactions held in a building with very expensive rent,” she says.

The bureau announced plans for two mobile visitor centers—likely Ford Sprinter vans—to replace brick-and-mortar locations downtown and in the former Crozet train depot and “to reach and interact with even more visitors, by meeting them where they are located,” according to a release.

Mallek says at events such as the Heritage Harvest Festival, “I was handing out hundreds of brochures. I’m very much in favor of mobile vans.”

Councilor Heather Hill, the city’s representative on the CACVB board, says a pilot test moving the visitors bureau to the Old Metropolitan Center in the center of the mall earlier in the year revealed a “resistance to the public going into buildings.” She favors a hybrid model that offers more flexibility and reduces costs.

“Everyone is rethinking how much office space they need,” she says, “and not expending dollars on space we don’t need.”

The visitors bureau is funded from 30 percent of the city and county’s lodging tax, and pays the city $45,000 a year to rent the Transit Center space, says CACVB Executive Director Courtney Cacatian.

Charlottesville-area lodging occupancy rates through July of this year were down 42.6 percent compared to 2019, says Cacatian, citing an industry report. The average daily rate slid 22.7 percent, and the key industry metric, revenue per available room, is down 55.6 percent for that same period.

“Two years from now, we’ll really be feeling the budget impact from the coronavirus,” she says. “We’re still crunching the numbers to see what we’ll have left over for office space.”  

The bureau has a month-to-month lease, and will depart the Transit Center at the end of October, says Cacatian. 

When it was first proposed in the early 2000s, many considered the Transit Center a boondoggle to take advantage of $6.5 million in soon-to-expire federal funds for intermodal transportation. When a location on West Main near the Amtrak station—to connect trains or Greyhound coaches to city buses—was not forthcoming, the city decided to proceed on land it owned on the mall.

At the same time, plans were in the works to revitalize the east end of the mall with a music pavilion that would be leased long-term to and run by music/real estate magnate Coran Capshaw. The city now bills the Transit Center’s intermodality as connecting city buses, bikes, and pedestrians. 

Philadelphia firm WRT won awards for the design of the 11,200-square-foot space. Besides housing a Catch the CAT hub downstairs, original plans called for a retail space, but other than a brief run for Alex George’s Just Curry in 2008, that hasn’t materialized either.

The visitor center’s departure means the city will soon have more vacant space on the mall. “Obviously it’s a loss for that rental revenue,” says Hill.

As for future occupants of the space, city spokesman Brian Wheeler says, “At this point, they haven’t given notice. We aren’t making plans in absence of notice.”

“It’s kind of an awkward space, with a lot of volume but little square footage,” says Kirby Hutto, who runs the neighboring Sprint Pavilion. Whoever next occupies the space will have to work closely with the Pavilion once concerts begin again, because the Pavilion restricts access when there’s a show, he says.

Hutto thinks it’s important to have a visitors center on the Downtown Mall. “I’d like to see a place where people can ask questions and get directions,” he says. “I think it’s kind of sad there won’t be a visitors center.”

But Cacatian says the bureau will still have some sort of presence on the Downtown Mall. She notes that Arlington’s visitors bureau went mobile in 2010 and hasn’t reopened its brick-and-mortar  center. “It’s working great. They’re able to serve 40 percent more people.”

She adds, “The good thing is we have time to figure it out.”

 

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Coronavirus News

Closing chapter: Book festival cancellation reverberates throughout the area

New Dominion owner Julia Kudravetz has temporarily closed her store, but she says the shop will deliver books for free. PC: Natalie Jacobsen

In the past few days, outbreaks of COVID-19 have led to mass cancellations and postponements of events around the country, from the N.C.A.A. basketball tournament to Coachella. Though Charlottesville’s first presumptive positive case was just announced on March 16, efforts to contain the virus spread as much as possible led organizers to call off one of the city’s largest events of the year, the Virginia Festival of the Book.

The decision was weeks in the making, according to Jane Kulow, director of Virginia Center for the Book. Festival staff began monitoring the coronavirus situation in late February, and started receiving cancellations from authors as early as March 2, including one from Washington who told them, “You don’t want me to come.” 

On March 4, staff released a statement announcing that the festival would proceed as planned. But by March 9, they had “received many more cancellations and queries from people,” especially those who are immunocompromised, Kulow says. It became clear that it was best to cancel the festival. 

“This festival has a 25-year legacy, bringing 20,000 to 30,000 people into the community,” Kulow says. “We know the community is disappointed, [and] that it’ll have a huge economic impact…but the bottom line is we have to consider the health of the community.” 

“This has been a very emotional process for the festival’s staff, but it’s been made easier by the warm, sympathetic responses we’ve received,” she adds. 

Since announcing the festival’s cancellation last Wednesday, its three staff members have been busy sending individual messages to attendees, authors, publishers, venues, and volunteers, as well as “answering questions about refunds, and undoing all the program logistics that we’ve spent a year planning,” says Sarah Lawson, assistant director of Virginia Center for the Book. 

Because most of the festival’s programs are free to the public, staff plan a select amount of ticketed events, such as lunches and banquets, and other sponsored programs to help offset costs. But now that the festival’s missed out on these major fundraisers for the year, its staff is asking ticket holders to donate part (or all of) their refund to the festival, and is inviting the public to make donations. 

Authors who planned to attend the festival have also lost out on book sales, Kulow adds. “We encourage everyone to buy their books at local bookstores,”­—to help both the authors and the stores that depend on the influx in sales the festival brings in. 

“We had a wonderful command center for the book festival in our basement, where we had all the books organized by day and by event,”  says New Dominion Bookshop owner Julia Kudravetz. “We’d still love to sell them to people, so they can have those books during this unusual time. We count on that as a significant part of our income for the year, how we pay our staff, and continue to bring literature to the community.” 

New Dominion will be closed to the public until at least March 31, but—with just a call or email ahead—customers in Charlottesville and Albemarle can get books delivered to their doorstep for free. (Those outside of the area can get books shipped.) Anyone willing to venture to the Downtown Mall can get their books in person through the shop’s curbside pickup service. 

And with the thousands of visitors the festival brings in every year, the city’s hotels, restaurants, vendors, and other attractions will certainly take a hit from its cancellation, says Courtney Cacatian, executive director of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Omni Charlottesville, for example, was set to host several events during the festival. The hotel says it’s reimbursing reservations from both authors and attendees who were coming to town specifically for the festival. 

While book lovers will have to wait until next year for a full-fledged festival, its staff is currently in conversation with other book festivals around the country about putting on a virtual event, which would include programming and conversations from an array of authors. 

“We’re [also] exploring additional year-round programming for the local community,” adds Lawson. “Stay tuned!”

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In brief: Adjournment day, Short stay, Fashion Square buzz and more

Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax presides over the state's senate in Richmond, Virginia, U.S., February 11, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake (Newscom TagID: rtrlten858176.jpg) [Photo via Newscom]

Scandal marred

It was the most eventful—and scandal-plagued— session of the General Assembly in recent memory. Over in the executive branch, Governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring’s past blackface antics were revealed and drew calls for Northam to resign. Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax faced accusations of sexual assault, which he denied and called a “political lynching.” Both the Northam and Fairfax scandals were initially publicized by a right-wing website owned by Reilly O’Neal, a North Carolina political operative whose clients have included Roy Moore and Corey Stewart.

Local Delegate Rob Bell plans to hold a hearing on the Fairfax allegations in the Courts of Justice Committee, which he chairs, although it’s unclear if Vivian Tyson, who says Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex in 2004, will attend, amid her concerns of being “embroiled in a highly charged political environment,” according to her lawyers.

And Delegate David Toscano, 68, who served as House minority leader for seven years, announced on the last day of the session he will not seek reelection to an eighth term representing the 57th District.

Amid the scandals, legislators, all of whose seats are up for grabs in November, also passed some new laws.

Laying down the laws

  • Gerrymandering: Long an issue for legislators like state Senator Creigh Deeds, a redistricting bill finally got the nod from both houses. The constitutional amendment, which would establish an independent commission to draw state and congressional lines, still has to pass the General Assembly next year and then go to voters before it’s official.
  • Felony DUI: Drunk driving that results in serious injury, as was the case with an 8-year-old Palmyra girl who was almost killed in a 2017 crash, will now be a felony with passage of a Rob Bell bill.
  • Jamycheal Mitchell’s law: Another Bell bill requires the Board of Corrections to establish standards for mental health care after Mitchell, 24, stole $5 worth of snacks and languished in a Hampton Roads jail for months before dying of heart failure and severe weight loss.
  • Tommie’s law: Penalty for animal torture is upped from misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony. The bill passed both houses unanimously after Tommie, the Richmond dog tied to a pole, doused with accelerant and set on fire, died.
  • No-excuses voting: Citizens can cast absentee ballots in person one week before an election, starting in 2020.
  • Wage discrimination: A Jim Crow-era law that allowed employers to pay less for jobs once frequently held by African Americans—such as newsboys, shoe-shine boys, and doormen—passed both houses, with Delegate Matt Fariss one of the 14 “no” votes.
  • Keep talking: The General Assembly was poised to ban driving while using a hand-held cellphone, but at the last minute voted to allow talking, but no texting or web surfing.
  • No spoofing: Displaying Virginia area codes if not in the commonwealth is prohibited, but whether the toothless Class 3 misdemeanor will deter robo-callers remains to be seen.
  • Public notice: Before state universities hike tuition, they must hold public hearings—if Northam signs the bill into law.

Quote of the week

“This was their chance to actually take a vote on ratifying the ERA, and they blew it.”—Delegate David Toscano on House Republican leadership redirecting a vote on the Equal Rights Amendment back to committee

In brief

More to C

A revised tourism campaign, which features a “more to C” theme, wins points with the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau after an earlier campaign touting “C’villeization” bombed.

Rumor mill

Several people have contacted us to ask if Fashion Square Mall is for sale—and one said UVA had purchased it. Not true, says UVA spokesman Anthony de Bruyn, who adds the university has no interest in doing so. And Washington Prime Group, the parent company of Fashion Square, “has no plans to close or sell the mall at this time,” says spokeswoman Kimberly Green.

Can’t get a date

Charlottesville for Reasonable Health Insurance, which called out Sentara-owned Optima’s 2018 tripling of health insurance premiums here, says it wasn’t invited to Congressman Denver Riggleman’s February 19 meeting with Sentara Martha Jefferson to find ways to make health care affordable, nor, says the group, can it get on Riggleman’s calendar.

Back where he came from

Former Trump staffer Marc Short, who drew controversy—and two resignations—when he joined UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs as a senior fellow in August, is stepping down and headed back to the White House, where he’ll serve as chief of staff to Mike Pence. Tweeted UVA professor of religious studies Jalane Schmidt, “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!”

wikimedia

Bare-breasted Virtus

ERA activist Michelle Renay Sutherland was arrested February 18 for enacting the Virginia state seal, which features Virtus with an exposed left breast. A judge initially ordered her held without bond for the misdemeanor charge, but she was finally released three days later.

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In brief: Killed bills, uneasy homage, big checks and more

Niko has been behind bars for about four years and it doesn’t look good for him to get out. Courtesy Prayers for Niko

Dead or alive

The General Assembly has been in session two weeks, and it is whittling down the more than 2,000 bills legislators filed. Here are some bills that have survived so far—and others that were DOA.

Alive

  • An in-state tuition bill for undocumented students made it out of the Senate Education Committee January 8 on an 8-7 vote, with one Republican senator joining the ayes.
  • The General Assembly doesn’t often consider freedom of the press, and this year it will look at two bills. Delegate Chris Hurst, a former reporter and anchor for WDBJ in Roanoke, carries a bill that protects student journalists from censorship and their faculty advisers from punishment. Former print journalist Delegate Danica Roem’s bill shields reporters from revealing sources in most cases.
  • A bipartisan group in both houses of the General Assembly want to raise the minimum age to buy cigarettes and vapes from 18 to 21.

Dead

  • The Save Niko bill, which allows dogs found dangerous to be transferred to another owner or shipped to a state that doesn’t border Virginia, made it out of an agriculture subcommittee last week, only to have members change their minds this week. The bill could have freed cat-killer Niko, who has been on doggie death row at the SPCA for about four years.
  • The ’70s-era Equal Rights Amendment passed the Senate 26-14 January 15 and headed to the House of Delegates, where it traditionally dies in committee. This year was no exception—the amendment was tabled by a Republican-led Privileges and Elections subcommittee January 22.
  • More than a dozen gun safety bills, including universal background checks, temporary removal of firearms from the home of someone deemed a risk to himself or others, and Delegate David Toscano’s bill restricting open carry at permitted events like the Unite the Right rally, were swiftly dispatched January 17 in the rural Republican-controlled subcommittee of the House Committee on Militia, Police, and Public Safety, chaired by southern Albemarle’s Delegate Matt Fariss.
  • Several bills that would decriminalize or even legalize pot died January 16 in a Courts of Justice subcommittee, with Delegate Rob Bell voting to prevent Virginia from going soft on personal marijuana use.
  • A bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 made a rare appearance on the Senate floor January 21, where it died on party lines 19 to 21.

Quote of the week

“I believe there are certain people in history we should honor that way in the Senate . . . and I don’t believe that [Robert E. Lee] is one of them.”—Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, a descendant of slaves, tells the Washington Post after ceding the dais and gavel during a tribute to Lee January 18

In brief

Shutdown scams

Attorney General Mark Herring warned about scams that target furloughed employees. Don’t accept an employment offer for a job you didn’t apply for, he says, and be cautious of predatory lending, including payday, auto title, open-end, and online loans. And those seeking to help should be cautious too—Herring says to avoid cash donations and only give if you can confirm the charity or fundraiser is legit.

Sally Hudson announces run. Eze Amos

Biggest donations in local races

Local philanthropist Sonjia Smith wrote a $100,000 check to UVA prof Sally Hudson, who wants the seat now held by Delegate David Toscano, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Smith also gave $10,000 to Sena Magill for City Council, $5,000 to Albemarle sheriff candidate Chan Bryant, and $20,000 to an Andrew Sneathern for Albemarle commonwealth’s attorney committee, which donated $9,635 to Jim Hingeley, who will announce his run January 23.

Government heavy

The Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau came closer to being stacked with elected and government officials when county supes voted 5-1 for a 15-member tourism board in which industry experts would be outnumbered 9 to 6 by government people. City Council had its first reading of the changes January 22.

$2.3 million roof

Carr’s Hill’s $7.9 million renovation went up another couple of mil when workers discovered the 14,000-square-foot manse’s roof needed to be replaced, not repaired. It’s the first major overhaul of the 1909 Stanford White-designed home of UVA presidents, and Jim Ryan is temporarily housed in Pavilion VIII on the Lawn while the work goes on.

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C’villeization: Proposed ad campaign draws complaints

The latest iteration of a rebranding campaign to draw visitors to the area was better received than an earlier one, but its use of “C’villeization” still makes some local officials squeamish. Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau

The word “civility” has become a bad word among some Charlottesvillians. Now a proposed tourism ad campaign touting “C’villeization” as a play on the C’ville nickname is also drawing fire.

Chapel Hill-based ad company Clean presented mock-ups of its “Welcome to C’villeization” rebranding campaign at a December 20 tourism board meeting. The ads feature images of attractive people eating local food, having a good time, and, in one, clinking wine glasses with the text, “C’villeization welcomes spitting. In the right context.”

Mayor Nikuyah Walker, who is not on the tourism board, is not a fan. She posted on Facebook, “This makes me so sad. This logo is unacceptable. Be Better! Do Better!” Walker did not respond to a request from C-VILLE for comment.

Supervisor Ann Mallek, a county representative on the board, says, “I’m not a tourism expert. I do know what stuck up and arrogant look like.”

And by “stuck up” and “arrogant,” she means “anybody who claims to be the center of civilization.”

At an October meeting, Clean learned that civility was not going to fly. At the December meeting, Interim City Manager Mike Murphy was wary of “C’villeization” and “C’villeized,” as well. “It’s still too close for me,” he said.

Councilor Kathy Galvin said, “C’villeization is a problem.”

And Councilor Mike Signer, the city’s alternate member, liked going with “C’ville” sans the play on civilization.

Despite those reactions, Adam Healey, the visitors bureau interim director, said the C’villeization campaign had gotten “highly positive” feedback. He proposed it for an ad campaign targeting 25- to 44-year-olds, dubbed “refined roamers,” in the Washington, D.C., and Research Triangle Park area in North Carolina. “The goal is to increase short getaways,” he said.

After Walker’s Facebook post, which Healey says he hasn’t seen, he says, “We have to understand our objective. We’re trying to draw visitors. We’re not on a social mission. We’re on an economic mission.”

Albemarle Economic Development Director Roger Johnson, who was elected chair of the reconfigured tourism executive board, says the C’villeization presentation “was definitely better received than the initial one.”

The visitors bureau board has gone through major turnover the past year, and will now include two elected officials from the city and county on its executive board.

That change was spearheaded by Mallek, who says, “For 11 years I was concerned the county was not getting the service it deserved for its million dollars.” Before, the county sent a staff member, who was one of 11 board members and was consistently in the minority when the county’s wish list was voted on, according to Mallek.

Those at the December 21 meeting approved a 14-member board, with two elected officials each from Albemarle and Charlottesville, four city and county administrators, a UVA vice president, reps from the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns Monticello, and the Chamber of Commerce, two tourism industry members, and one representative from the arts community.

The size of the board drew some concerns. Signer favored a “nimble” decision-making group like the seven-member Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority Board. And Johnson said, “The larger we make this group, the harder it is to make decisions.”

Both the government officials and tourism representatives wanted more people with expertise from the tourism industry on the board.

The Board of Supervisors and City Council will vote on the changes to the board in January. As for the ad campaign, that will come back to the tourism board. Says Healey, “We’re going to incorporate feedback.”

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A little help: Tourism bureau seeks PR firm to turn around its image

It’s going to take more than an ad campaign to rehab Charlottesville’s image after the white supremacist violence of 2017. SUSAN PAYNE

Before the summer of 2017, a Google image search of the word “Charlottesville” might have turned up some photos of our picturesque purple mountains, or the stately columns of Monticello and the University of Virginia. These days, as demonstrated in the recent Charlottesville documentary, it turns up images of flag-waving neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

Now, with the city back in the national news for the trial of accused murderer-by-car James Fields, the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau is looking for a little help. Specifically, the bureau released a request for proposal seeking a public relations firm to turn around the area’s negative image, which stems, it says, from “the takeover of our town by a white nationalist rally organized by Jason Kessler.”

“There’s been a lot of negative press,” says the bureau’s interim director Adam Healey. “There’s no doubt it’s impacted tourism.”

The number one metric of the tourism industry is revenue per available hotel room, says Healey. “For Charlottesville and Albemarle, that number is down 4 percent while every other major market in the state is up.”

He attributes the decrease to the “public relations challenge” since the Unite the Right rally, as well as underfunding of the visitors bureau—it gets 20 percent of the transient occupancy tax while top tourist destinations in other states get 100 percent of that tax. Marketing and branding efforts have so far failed to establish this area as “the crown jewel of Virginia,” he says.

Tourism is about jobs and quality of life, he says. “It’s a driver of economic development.”

The PR firm will work with Healey and Clean, the bureau’s Chapel Hill-based ad agency, which it hired in 2017. “We need both of those,” says Healey. A typical retainer for this type of PR work is around $8,000 a month.

Healey wants a public relations firm experienced in crisis communications to be proactive in changing the narrative about Charlottesville.

While the events of August 12 were a crisis, Batten Fellow and global communications expert Barie Carmichael says at this point, Charlottesville has “an issue,” which requires a long lead time to mitigate. “It’s not a flip-the-switch situation.”

Carmichael, who worked for Dow Corning during its silicone breast-implant crisis, says it’s important not to assume everyone associates Charlottesville with white supremacists without doing the research to find out exactly what the target market—tourists—thinks. Without research first, it’s a “fire, ready, aim” strategy that’s pretty much a useless exercise.

“Smart companies are going out and looking at social media” and using analytics to find out what people are already talking about, she says. In doing so, a firm may find “unexpected allies” that can help change the narrative.

“Communications issues management doesn’t begin with what you say,” she says. “It begins with what’s received.”

Healey notes that 1,500 hotel rooms are currently being developed that will increase the area’s capacity 35 percent in the next three years. The PR firm will get a one-year contract that can be renewed for an additional four years, hopefully long enough to fill all those hotel rooms.

“We’ve got to be proactive about public relations,” he says. “There’s been a lack of accountability.”