Rosemont gets $5 million to boost convention business

Despite a national downturn in convention business, Rosemont's Donald E. Stephens Convention Center has been holding its own drawing between 50 and 60 shows year round, says Mayor Bradley Stephens.

Yet Stephens admits the city could use help luring more trade shows and attendees to the region, away from popular convention destinations like Las Vegas and Orlando.

That help will come in the form of a $5 million boon to Rosemont, thanks to a new Illinois law crafted to bail out the indebted Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, also known as McPier, that runs Chicago's McCormick Place and Navy Pier.

Under the legislation, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity could reimburse McPier up to $15 million and Rosemont up to $5 million yearly for incentives paid to entice shows.

Rosemont's concession was worked into the legislation at the eleventh hour after Stephens lobbied lawmakers in Springfield for a week, convincing them the village deserved its share.

"We know that we're not as big or as needy as McCormick Place but there is still a need for some assistance," he said. "We are going to be at an economic disadvantage. Let us have access to that same fund under the same rules."

The state legislature last Thursday overrode Gov. Pat Quinn's veto to enact the law aimed at reforming McCormick Place's operations and controlling labor costs.

Rosemont can only get reimbursed for incentives offered up to $5 million, and cannot claim any unused funds. To qualify for the funds, shows would have to meet certain benchmarks such as economic impact and attendance figures.

Stephens said he requested lawmakers include language in the legislation allowing the money to be used not only to attract new convention business but also retain existing shows.

"Better than 70 percent of our business is repeat business at the convention center," he said.

It isn't clear yet exactly how the incentive funds can be used. The state still is drafting rules for the program, a process that will take some time, said Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity spokeswoman Marcelyn Love.

"What I'm looking at possibly being able to use it for is to offer rent abatements for the shows that come here, promotional advertising, and offsetting some of the hotel rates," Stephens said. "We're hoping to have some input."

Stephens said he is confident the new incentives will help recover some of the losses from the last two years. Rosemont makes roughly $6 million yearly from renting out the 840,000-square-foot convention center floor space. The village's parking garage also generates a few million dollars annually, and its hotel tax fetched about $6 million last year - down a few million dollars from 2006-2007, Stephens said.

In this climate, convention organizers try to negotiate for whatever freebees they can get from host communities.

"We used to have the luxury of folks signing long-term contracts. Today, they prefer shorter terms because they know that it's really competitive out there," he said.

Rosemont stands to benefit from another provision in the new law raising the tax on taxi, limousine and charter bus rides to and from Chicago airports from $2 to $4.

Stephens said Rosemont would use the money it expects from the tax - about $2 million a year - to pay for debt service, maintenance and upkeep of the convention center.