Hoffman Estates quits convention bureau

Saying the group is too "Schaumburg-centric," the Hoffman Estates village board Monday unanimously voted to leave the Greater Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau.

Trustee Ray Kincaid said Hoffman Estates wasn't getting "enough bang for the buck" with Greater Woodfield. The village was to pay $77,800 in membership dues this year to the Schaumburg-based tourism organization, which serves 12 towns in the Northwest suburbs.

Hoffman Estates will instead take the $77,800 to hire a full-time tourism and business retention coordinator, who will focus on bringing tourism to the village. Village Manager James Norris said the position would be filled within 30 days. Norris said the village has been frustrated with the bureau since 2001, when it raised membership fees from a flat $4,000.

"I can see better uses of the money," Mayor William McLeod said.

The membership fee is based on 10 percent of the Hoffman Estates hotel tax, which the board increased in November from 5 percent to 6 percent. Village officials say the increase will generate an extra $230,000 annually.

The tax hike may have foreshadowed the departure, officials say. The money was earmarked to print a Hoffman Estates Tourism Guide, which would focus on the village, unlike Greater Woodfield's version. The village also late last year created the Northwest Suburban Chicago Sports Council, which is separate from the Woodfield group, hoping to lure sporting events to the Sears Centre arena at the Prairie Stone Business Park.

Meanwhile, the village board also gave preliminary approval for a contract, not to exceed $100,000, for a marketing firm to develop a plan for the village. The firm, Tom Rivera and Associates LLC, is run by Tom Rivera, former president of the Greater Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau.

In the past, the group has helped lure lodgers attending conventions at neighboring Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, said bureau President Fran Bolson, who added her group had radio commercials in December mentioning Hoffman Estates' newly opened Cabela's outdoor store.

When contacted earlier Monday, Bolson said she didn't know Hoffman Estates was going to take a vote to leave the bureau. She appeared at village hall trying to convince trustees that Hoffman Estates' membership did, in fact, have its privileges.

The bureau has an annual budget of $1.8 million, using the money to print visitor guides and advertise, among other promotions.

The bureau is funded by membership fees and grants, Bolson said, adding that the group goes out of its way to make sure every town feels included and that Schaumburg doesn't dominate. She also said the hotels of Hoffman Estates will lose out, and asked if they were consulted. Village officials said that was done already.

"They're going to miss out on a lot of opportunities," Bolson warned.

Bolson said the bureau helped bring in about $300,000 annually in Hoffman Estates hotel room revenue through sales leads. Norris pointed out that with the village's hotel tax, that meant Hoffman Estates would get about $18,000. He then compared that to the $77,800 the village pays in membership dues.