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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLansing Entertainment and Public Facilities Authority Minutes 05.26.26LANSING ENTERTAINMENT & PUBLIC FACILITIES AUTHORITY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES May 26th, 2026 At 8:20am, Secretary/Treasurer Paul Collins called the LEPFA Board of Commissioners to order in the Governor’s Room located at the Lansing Center; 333 East Michigan Avenue; Lansing, Michigan 48933. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Paul Collins, Kenric Hall, Danielle Lenz, Charles Mickens, Tracie Kent COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Dustin Howard, Lolo Robison, Maureen McNulty-Saxton, Patrick Spyke, Deyanira Nevarez (EO), Crystal Thomas (EO), Rawley Van Fossen (EO) OTHERS PRESENT: Tony Watson, Emily Shaull, Kirby Doidge, Mindy Biladeau, Ryan Tess, Kristy Doak, Elaine Unger, Julie Pingston Choose Lansing, Jack Alexander, Elizabeth Krochmalny Secretary/Treasurer Paul Collins called the LEPFA Board meeting to start at 8:20 A.M. III. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AGENDA: There were no changes to the agenda. MOTION: Commissioner Lenz SECOND: Commissioner Hall MOTIONED CARRIED IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None V. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES 1. April 28 Board Meeting Motion to approve the previous minutes as presented MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Mickens MOTIONED CARRIED VI. REPORTS 1. Chairperson – Maureen McNulty-Saxton a) Nominating Committee i. She was not present. No other staff or commissioners were aware of this discussion and will therefore revisit it at the June board meeting. 2. Legends Global Report – General Manager / Regional VP a) Tony Watson i. There was a typo on the General Manager update. It is supposed to say “Director of Food and Beverage” instead of “Finance”. Since Paul Ntoko left the Lansing Center, they are currently hiring for this position. 1. They have received about 20 resumes so far; a few of them are potential candidates. The posting will be taken down at the end of this month. ii. They are still hiring for the sous chef position. 1. They've had some good interviews, but no one has stood out. 2. There are about 37 resumes so far, and they’ve conducted about 10 interviews. iii. Last week, the HR/Payroll Coordinator put in their two weeks’ notice, so the Lansing Center is now looking to fill that role. 1. They’ve already received about 20 resumes. iv. Kirby Doidge has been promoted to Assistant General Manager. v. Legends Global provided $10,000 to use for charitable donations as per the contract. 1. It will be an annual provision. 2. This year, six local charities were chosen. a. Greater Lansing Food Bank - $1,800 b. The Nest - $1,800 c. Uplift Our Youth - $1,800 i. Tony thanked the board for this recommendation, since it LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting May 26, 2026 P a g e | 2 was Larry Leatherwood’s organization. d. The Salus Center - $1,800 e. Shared Pregnancy Women’s Center- $1,800 f. Historical Society - $1,800 vi. Per the contract, Legends Global also will provide $500,000 in capital funding for the property. Staff have received that money and are allocating it to many areas. 1. A lot of the funds are going towards new Food and Beverage equipment. 2. Some funds will go towards the ballroom update. 3. Some funds will go towards new carpet upstairs and new paint in the meeting rooms and hallway downstairs. a. Commissioner will see the new carpet at next month’s board meeting. vii. Customer service satisfaction surveys are coming in. 1. It’s been over two months since they started the process. 2. Kristy will go over the insights when she gives her report. viii. Since the food and beverage director left, they have had to slow down on offering new menu items. ix. Karen Wilson has taken on some of Paul Ntoko’s duties, overseeing Groesbeck food, equipment, and facility changes. 1. They are working on putting in new carpet and flooring. Ryan will update the commissioners on this item. 2. They’re hoping to increase the food caps 50%. x. The Lansing Center is moving forward with the digital signage for all the meeting spaces in the ballroom. xi. Comment from Commissioner Collins: He congratulated Kirby on his promotion. He is looking forward to continuing to work with him. 3. Finance Committee – Paul Collins & Kirby Doidge a) Paul Collins i. The finance committee met last week and discussed the April financials. b) Kirby Doidge i. April Financials 1. Lansing Center a. Revenue i. Revenue was $624,000, which was behind by $21,000. 1. He attributes that to food and beverage coming in under by $35,000. a. Some events on paper seemed like a big food and beverage spend, but that did not come to fruition. ii. Year-to-date, they are ahead in almost every category except for signage and promotion. 1. In total, they are ahead by $302,000, which does account for sponsorship. b. Expenses i. The retro pay for the IATSE contract is now included. 1. They are still under in salaries and expense by $58,000. ii. Professional services is significantly under, and a lot of that is due to the KPI dollars. 1. Depending on what those come out at, it will affect how much the Lansing Center will pay out for the contract. iii. Expenses were $611,000, which is under by $91,000 and year-to-date under by $80,000. iv. After adding in non-operating expenses, they are currently ahead of budget by $30,000. c. Last Year Comparison i. They are up about a million dollars in revenue and up $500,000 in expenses. ii. The budget overall will depend on how June turns out, as well as paying out the incentives. 2. Groesbeck Golf Course a. Revenue i. They brought in $73,000, which puts them over by $16,000. 1. The leagues are currently at zero. Kirby is waiting on the final allocation and start date for the leagues. LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting May 26, 2026 P a g e | 3 Once he has those, the revenue should increase. ii. Year-to-date, they are up $89,000. 1. Only the season passes and simulator line items were expected to be slower. b. Expenses i. Salaries are under, and supplies and materials are up. 1. This reflects the preparation for the season. ii. Overall, they are on track but a little over. 1. They were under by $11,000. iii. Year-to-date, they are over by $92,000, which is mostly due to revenue. iv. There is an audit item from last year that’s up, and it is at $94,000. v. Year-to-date, they have a positive budget variance by $92,000. 3. Jackson Field a. Expenses i. They have some larger HVAC items that were serviced when opening the stadium; these will hit the financials as soon as the invoices come in. 1. They will utilize the entire $767,006 that is allocated for the field. 2. Any capital over the spending requirement will become non-operating expense. ii. The $1 million grant was voted down, which means that the city is out that reimbursement. 1. Jackson Field is out some that were not reimbursed by the city. 2. He does not have the exact numbers, but that is still a significant hit, especially with the updates and fixes needed. iii. Question from Commissioner Collins to Kirby Doidge: When expenses are reimbursed, do they hit the organization and then become cash? 1. The city already reimbursed them. 90% is the excess which will sit as receivable from the city/state. Eventually, it will be written off because it's not going to get paid. Motion to approve the April financial reports as presented MOTION: Commissioner Mickens SECOND: Commissioner Hall MOTIONED CARRIED 4. Personnel Committee – Dustin Howard a) Dustin was not present. The committee met and discussed the same personnel updates as were in the General Manager report. 5. Strategic Planning Committee- Charles Mickens a) The Strategic Planning Committee met and received updates. Tony covered most of them in the General Manager report. 6. Director /Staff Report a) Kristy Doak, Director of Sales & Service i. Elaine Unger, a Lansing Center sales manager, has been promoted to senior sales manager. 1. She has taken on a lot of new markets and really pushed for getting people into the Lansing Center. She has also been great at customer experience and ensuring that they’re getting quality groups that fit the center’s needs. ii. Madyson Rush, a sales manager, and Rachel Hare, an event coordinator, both became members of IAVM, the International Association of Venue Management. 1. Mady is on the Convention Center Safety and Security Subcommittee, and Rachel is on the Young Professional Subcommittee. iii. Rachel Hare and Meghan Fleser, event coordinators, are now CTAs, Certified Tourism Ambassadors. iv. Sales attended the two following events in April: the Michigan Society of Government Meeting Planners, and the Destination International Sales and Services Summit. 1. The emphasis for these conferences was on AI and how to utilize it in convention sales and services. 2. They also discussed funding the market mix, which was timely for sales staff LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting May 26, 2026 P a g e | 4 as they’re trying to find their own mix for summer. 3. The team came back with a few ideas and strategies to try. v. Sales had some high-level site visits this month. 1. Lakeshore Volleyball 2. Douglas J Institute 3. Central States Conference on Teaching of Foreign Languages 4. Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists 5. International Packaging Research Institute vi. Sales is continuing to promote high food and beverage dollars and incentivize clients. 1. They have confirmed two groups so far with this promotion. a. MI Association of Intermediate School Administrators (July 2026) i. They have committed about $45,000 in food and beverage. b. MSUFCU (January 2027) 2. Sales is also prospecting two other groups with this same promotion. a. Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists (July 2028) i. They are committing about $75,000 in food and beverage. b. MI Association of School Superintendents and Administrators (January 2030) i. They are committing about $130,000 in food and beverage. c. Kristy thanked Elaine again because she was the manager in main contact with these groups. vii. The sales team has updates on the customer surveys, as Tony said earlier. 1. They are pushing the collection of surveys as the number one item. a. They only have 13 customer evaluations so far. b. They are aiming for 80% of clients to return. c. Over time, as they get more statistical data, the results will get better. 2. In the Moment surveys only have 27 responses. a. They’re pushing it towards all clients and guests, so they’re not sure why it’s been so slow to pick up. 3. There are two items that are pulling down the average statistics, condition and facility quality. a. This is based on the age of the Lansing Center. b. The sales team is telling clients and guest about the new renovations planned and hopes it’ll eventually improve scores. viii. Question from Commissioner Mickens to Kristy Doak: Can staff talk more about the conference information on AI and the potential uses of it going forward? 1. The conference talked a lot about AI research and how to utilize it. a. They talked about different ways to organize data and information and showed how different platforms do different things. b. They talked about Claude and platforms that can do podcast services, like generating a fully AI podcast. 2. Every Thursday sales department meeting, the sales team talks about AI and how they can incorporate it into their work. 3. One member of the service team is a Young Professional member, and they are exploring these AI ideas. b) Director of Foodservice i. Lansing Center 1. Since the position has not been filled yet, there was no foodservice report. Other reports incorporated foodservice information in them. c) Ryan Tess, Director of Operations i. Lansing Center 1. The freight elevator is down for modernization. 2. The carpet for upstairs was delivered this morning, and they're beginning the install down at the end of the hall. a. All 26 pallets are here. 3. Overall, operations staff is working to finish up all the outstanding projects. ii. Groesbeck Golf Course 1. Daniel Matwiczyk, the Golf Ops Manager, is now overseeing the golf course. a. The focus for them is first on customer experience before implementing some of Dan’s new ideas. 2. Groesbeck’s new flooring will no longer arrive by June 16th. a. There was a miscommunication with the vendor. The carpet will now arrive in the next couple of weeks. 3. The rubber tile in the restrooms has also been delayed. a. The delay is due to the product itself and its production. iii. Jackson Field LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting May 26, 2026 P a g e | 5 1. They are ahead on the smaller repair items. d) Mindy Biladeau, Director of Marketing & Special Events i. Groesbeck Golf Course 1. On May 3rd, they hosted Hickory Golf Day. a. Golfers wore 1930s attire and were loaned hickory clubs. b. Total media mentions were 27, and total reached was 31 million. The listed value was $21,000. 2. They hosted the Centennial Classic, a four-person scramble, on May 17th. a. There were 17 teams and 68 golfers from across Michigan, with many generational family teams and golfers who had never played at Groesbeck before. Golfers came from cities like Holland, Grand Rapids, Boyne City, and many more. 3. They used an app as a live leaderboard. a. First place team was under 12, and the runner up was under 11. Third place was under 10, and a bunch of teams were in the hump behind. b. The runner up and first place team missed 160-yard cut and bogeyed. i. It was a father and three sons who went to Lansing Catholic and grew up playing the course. They go all over the state and try to play here 2-3 times a year. 4. There were rollback rates from the 18th-21st for customer appreciation, and it went well. 5. Films and Fairways with Atlantic Public Media Center will be starting soon. a. It is a three-part free movie night event. b. It starts on June 12th and continues into July and August. c. They will be showing Legend of Bagger Vance, Happy Gilmore, and The Greatest Game Ever Played. d. The movies will start 20 minutes after dusk each night, and there will be concessions. 6. The Marker dedication is June 16th at 10:30am, on the anniversary of the course. a. Mindy will be sending out an email about it this week. b. They will be unveiling a poster by a local artist. ii. Lansing Center 1. Wayfinding and restroom signage will begin installing on June 5th and will be completed by June 8th. iii. Other Events 1. Grand Concert Series is returning on select Thursdays from June 18th - August 27th from 6-8pm on the Riverfront Plaza. a. There will be different genres at every concert. i. The first band on June 18th is Lansing Concert Band Jazz Big Band, which is an 18-piece band with two vocalists. 2. Marketing, PR, and social media are all doing well. VII. COMMISSIONERS AND STAFF COMMENTS None VIII. OLD BUSINESS Legends Global Contract KPI 1. In addition to the annual fee to Legends Global, the contract includes two incentive provisions, qualitative and quantitative. a. Quantitative is set out by the contract, but qualitative allows the board to pick out its measurable factors. b. The incentive is based upon performance with respect to those measures. 2. The executive committee met last week and talked about the appropriate qualitative factors. 3. Commissioner Collins wanted to open the conversation to the board so that by next month, they can decide on them for this current fiscal year. a. They can change these factors every year and probably will as the relationship with Legends Global continues. 4. Tony was asked to present the potential factors that were presented to the executive committee and their thoughts. He will send this list to all the commissioners. a. Client satisfaction b. Collaboration with CDB c. Community involvement and relations d. Compliance with contract deliverables LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting May 26, 2026 P a g e | 6 e. Creative sales and marketing f. Customer service satisfaction g. Economic impact h. Maintenance and operations i. Marketing j. New business k. Overall quality of service l. Rated good or better m. Safety compliance n. Stakeholder responsiveness o. Volunteer hours 5. Tony answered aloud the executive committee’s questions. a. How many KPIs are required? i. Typically, the average for venues is based on 5-7 KPIs. b. Is it possible to combine client satisfaction and customer service satisfaction into a single KPI? i. Yes, that can generally be the same, if, for example, the clients are planners or show organizers and not clients of LEPFA. c. Can the maintenance and operations KPI be based on the Altum program, the Lansing Center’s maintenance software system? i. Yes, that is one that can be used to meet those satisfactions because it can be rated. ii. It can also be taken from an operations assessment score, which was discussed on the committee call. If they came in and did their yearly assessment, staff could utilize that as well. d. What about the New Business KPI? i. It can be done, but it could be based more off Choose Lansing’s side because they track economic impact and those kinds of items. ii. Staff could even combine this KPI into several KPIs. Legends Global gave freedom to the board to make KPIs basically however they want. 6. Question from Commissioner Lenz: Was there any KPI about internal satisfaction? a. There’s another list with over 100 more possibilities. Staff can look at that list for that kind of KPI. 7. Question from Commissioner Collins to Tony Watson: Could the two different types of customer surveys—client and In The Moment—be explained? What are they and who are they targeting? a. The client surveys go to the individual plan or client that’s been contracted for an event. This survey gives a separate score. b. The In The Moment survey is for anybody in the Lansing Center, whether it be client, guest, or personnel. i. It’s a QR code and involves a separate scoring scenario. 1. Question from Commissioner Lenz: Is that given directly to the customers? a. The codes are posted around the building in public areas, like drinking fountains, bathrooms, and elevators. Staff are encouraging clients to have their guests fill these surveys out. The surveys will go immediately to certain staff members. 2. Question from Commissioner Lenz: Is that communicated to customers beforehand? a. It’s communicated before the planning process, but every time Kristy speaks with the client in person, she always reminds them of it. ii. This survey only has 27 responses currently. c. Question from Commissioner Collins: When did this survey process start? i. In The Moment started on March 1st. ii. The client survey went live in late March and only has 13 responses so far. 8. Question from Commissioner Collins: The executive committee believes that both client and customer satisfaction are very important metrics, especially right now. If there are only going to be 5-7 KPIs, is there really a need to combine the two? a. The executive committee discussed keeping it around 3 KPIs. Commissioner Hall doesn’t believe they need to have more, but they can break those two apart and have a better ability to score them. 9. Question from Commissioner Collins: Assuming that that is a metric that the board wishes to use, what is the benchmark? Is there an average or expectation across Legends Global facilities provided by corporate? The KPI isn’t just supposed to be about measuring; it’s LEPFA Board of Commissioners Meeting May 26, 2026 P a g e | 7 supposed to be about how the center compares to others as well. a. Commissioner Hall added that there should also be a yearly expected increase. b. The executive committee discussed four potential data points for KPIs, two customer- related and two facility-related ones. One of the facility ones was a survey that is done from the outside, and the other was the MRO, the maintenance request software and its data. i. Their current idea is to combine the facility ones to make three KPIs. c. They also discussed new business as a KPI. i. A committee attendee had mentioned that this was a hard item to measure, and most of it falls on the Bureau. 1. Commissioner Hall argued looking at it from a revenue and business standpoint. a. Commissioner Hall congratulated Kristy Doak on the new clients brought in. 10. Question from Commissioner Mickens: Do any Legends Global facilities use an app for internal communications and/or client interaction? a. Tony said that there isn’t as far as he knows. Some Legends Global staff will have group chats, but that’s usually only done on a local level. i. There’s the Legends Global website that people can ask questions on, if that’s what the commissioner means. b. Commissioner Mickens was asking about a communication app for event customers onsite. They can use it to interact with speakers or the host and give immediate feedback. i. Tony has been to a lot of conferences that have that but doesn’t know if Legends Global has one. ii. Commissioner Lenz agreed, saying that a few facilities she has gone to, like the Renaissance Center or Van Dyke Center in Muskegon, have their own venue app. People can fill out surveys, alert staff to issues, and communicate other things, rather than use a walkie-talkie system. iii. Tony and the sales team will investigate this potential option. 1. Commissioner Lenz added that the venue examples she used were Marriott properties. Kristy said that staff have connections with those facilities, so they can ask them questions about it. 11. Staff and commissioners concluded that that was the end of their discussion for now and that they would take it up again at the June board meeting. IX. NEW BUSINESS None X. ADJOURNMENT - Date, Time, Location of Next Meeting: At 9:05 AM, meeting was adjourned. MOTION: Commissioner Hall SECOND: Commissioner Lenz MOTIONED CARRIED NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR: JUNE 23, 2026 8:00 a.m. Location: Rooms 101-102 – Lansing Center Respectfully submitted, Emily Shaull, Recording Secretary