The Placer Valley Event Center, the centerpiece of the $47 million transformation of @the Grounds in Roseville, Calif., will become the Roebbelen Center under a naming rights sponsorship with the largest general contractor based in the Sacramento region.

Roebbelen Contracting Inc. was the general contractor for the 160,000-square-foot center that opened in February. The newly named Roebbelen Center – one of the largest meeting places in the Sacramento region – can accommodate major amateur sports competitions, large meetings, trade shows, concerts, and other events.

“We believe in the community and the center,” said Kenneth Wenham, President and Chief Executive Officer of Roebbelen Contracting in El Dorado Hills. “We greatly appreciate the special relationship that we’ve built with the community and Placer Valley Tourism, and we didn’t want it to end with the ribbon-cutting.”

The company’s name and logo – which incorporates a compass, trowel and broadax – could remain on the building and throughout @the Grounds until 2040. Financial terms of the sponsorship were not released.

“We were looking for a very special long-term relationship,” said David Attaway, Chief Executive Officer of @the Grounds and Placer Valley Tourism. “Roebbelen is a huge part of the community and has a tremendous sense of pride in the event center. They know the building better than anybody.”

Only a couple of the more than 400 arenas, stadiums and event centers nationwide have naming rights sponsorships with companies in the construction industry, let alone a general contractor. Sponsorships from banks and financial-services companies – such as the Golden 1 (Credit Union) Center and the SAFE Credit Union Convention and Performing Arts District in downtown Sacramento – are much more common.

Roebbelen Contracting’s high-profile sponsorship in the recently opened $34 million event center is a “good touchpoint” to connect with the fast-growing South Placer community, said Pat Nieser, Vice President of Corporate Partnership and Development for The Superlative Group Inc. The Cleveland-based company helped @the Grounds market the event center to potential sponsors nationwide. “The event center makes a lot of sense for Roebbelen – they put their name on their work.”

The Roebbelen Center will bring more attention to the company that has been the general contractor for dozens of major projects in the Sacramento region – including at Folsom Lake College and the recently completed renovation of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) headquarters. The Roebbelen Center will also help the 350-employee company connect with job-seekers looking for new opportunities, Wenham said.

“It will lend some familiarity, and they can learn more about us,” he said. “With the sponsorship, we’re sending a message: we’ve been here for 60 years and we’re going to be around for many more.”

The Roebbelen Center is the latest major sponsorship for @the Grounds, formerly the Placer County Fairgrounds. In March, Consolidated Communications became the exclusive broadband provider, offering visitors and employees a high-speed connection from anywhere on the 61-acre campus. Consolidated Communications’ name can be found throughout @the Grounds, including on the digital marquees at the main entrance, in front of the ticket booth near the Roebbelen Center, and on Washington Boulevard.

The corporate sponsorships allow companies to connect with the estimated 160,000 people who will attend events held @the Grounds every year, from large sports tournaments and concerts to the annual Placer County Fair.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many events to be canceled or postponed since March. But Attaway said organizers remain interested and are scheduling events at the Roebbelen Center, which can accommodate as many as 12 full-length basketball courts or 24 volleyball courts.

“The demand keeps going up,” said Attaway, adding extensive cleaning efforts and safety protocols are in place @the Grounds. “Organizers can’t wait to hold events here.”

Lisa Harrington, CEO of Abiding Strategy, Helps Navigate Change: Leadership Through the Storm

“The venue industry will lead the way into our recovery and heal the hearts of the people of this country ,as we are able to re-engage and begin rebuilding our economy.” – Lisa Harrington

Reengaging after a crisis is a leadership challenge that we don’t have to practice often. You can make the transition work in your favor. if you are prepared in advance. How can you handle your own stress, communicate with your crew, and deal with the unexpected circumstances that will impact the client experience? Readiness is the key to success!

Join us virtually October 26-30, 2020 for VenueConnect 2020 as we welcome Lisa Harrington, CEO of Abiding Strategy, as our conference opening keynote speaker. Lisa will guide us on how we can all navigate the current needs for change by using leadership to navigate the storm.

Don’t forget! Members who register before September 30th will be entered for a chance to win 1 of 10 American Express Gift Cards (value $50). Don’t delay! Register NOW for VC2020 Virtual!

Mindy Abel, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA, United States

Pamela Adolphi, Martin Center for the Arts, Johnson City, TN, United States

Kim Allison, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA, United States

Justin Barton, Walter P Moore, Houston, TX, United States

Abigail Bayliss, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin, NT, Australia

Nick Bermensolo, Rose Quarter, Portland, OR, United States

Tanja Blasko, Mesa Community College Performing Arts Facilities, Mesa, AZ, United States

Chris Bragg, Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Greensboro, NC, United States

Greg Brereton, Veolia, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Gena Buhler, Theatre Projects, Denver, CO, United States

Lance Cardoza, Capitol International Productions, Lincolnshire, IL, United States

Fredrika Chase, Georgetown University, White Plains, MD, United States

Hazel Cockram, Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex, Raleigh, NC, United States

Beth Dawson, Western Australian Cricket Association – WACA, East Perth, WA, Australia

Tamara Day, Ticketek Pty Ltd, Subiaco, WA, Australia

Marisa Estrada, Mesa Community College Performing Arts Facilities, Mesa, AZ, United States

Phil Evans, Auckland Live, Auckland, , New Zealand

Zachry Godfrey, TripleRoot, San Antonio, TX, United States

Adrian Goldenthal, Mesa Community College Performing Arts Facilities, Mesa, AZ, United States

Benton Guy, Mesa Community College Performing Arts Facilities, Mesa, AZ, United States

David Hansen, Legacy Events Center, Farmington, UT, United States

Taja Harrington, Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA, United States

Lucas Johnson, Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex, Raleigh, NC, United States

Renee Jung, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA, United States

John Mancuso, SKA Consulting Engineers, Greensboro, NC, United States

Andrew Mann, Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Greensboro, NC, United States

Bridget March, Event Center at Archer, Cheyenne, WY, United States

Angelica McGrew, Mesa Community College Performing Arts Facilities, Mesa, AZ, United States

Billy Miller, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA, United States

Krystalynn Newbury, Mesa Community College Performing Arts Facilities, Mesa, AZ, United States

Charmaine Nocciolino, St. John Ambulance – WA, Belmont, WA, Australia

Lois Penny, Ungerboeck Software International, Chermside, QLD, Australia

Warren Persaud, Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Greensboro, NC, United States

Kyle Rivieccio, Mesa Community College Performing Arts Facilities, Mesa, AZ, United States

Ruth Sager, Mesa Community College Performing Arts Facilities, Mesa, AZ, United States

Abby Scheife, Wisconsin Center District, Milwaukee, WI, United States

Paul Shannon, Perth Concert Hall, WA Venues & Events Pty Ltd, Perth, WA, Australia

Jennifer Smart, U.S. Cellular Center, Kansas City, MO, United States

Amelia Spina, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, United States

Andrew Stephenson, ASM Global Pty Ltd – Suncorp Stadium, Milton BC, QLD, Australia

Marianne Sweden, Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex, Raleigh, NC, United States

Christopher Tubilewicz, Mesa Community College Performing Arts Facilities, Mesa, AZ, United States

Rob Tweddle, Ripples Penrith, St Marys, NSW, Australia

Lux Ullrich, Mesa Community College Performing Arts Facilities, Mesa, AZ, United States

Sherron Washington, The P3 Solution, Silver Spring, MD, United States

Michaela Wooldridge, Mesa Community College Performing Arts Facilities, Mesa, AZ, United States

David Young, Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA, United States

By Scott Mullen, CVE

On March 12 we were about to tip-off the Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament at the TaxSlayer Center. The teams were on the court warming up and after an emergency conference call with the NCAA, the decision was made to cancel. Like many venues we were shut-down suddenly and had no idea of the massive financial blow we were about to get hit with.

The IL Governor issued a mandate that there would be no mass gatherings allowed to take place until there was a vaccine or treatment distributed and we have been postponing and cancelling what was going to be a solid run of upcoming events ever since. We had to refund or prorate our building sponsorships and suite leases resulting in virtually no income for the foreseeable future. This led to furloughs and layoffs of most of our employees and we were desperate to find a way to qualify for relief funding.

There has been relief funding available for some entities in our industry but since like many other venues we are a quasi-governmental municipal authority that is not part of a city, county or state budget, we were left out. Unfortunately, civic center authorities that are set up as municipal corporations, civic center authorities, and municipalities are not eligible for most if not all of the elements of the federal Coronavirus stimulus package when it comes to venues like ours (The Illinois Quad City Civic Center Authority).

We saw the need to take action to lobby and educate our elected officials about our situation. Many of them mistakenly assumed we would fall under the city’s budget and they could cover our losses with funding they could qualify for but that was not the case.

The first thing we did back in April was get together a coalition of other venues in the state that were also set-up as quasi-governmental entities. We compared resources and utilized the city of Aurora, IL’s lobbyist, Dan Shoman, and he was extremely helpful in putting together an organized effort. We contacted our respective state and federal elected officials and informed them of our situation and the economic peril we faced. In our case we conveyed that we were projecting a net loss of $2.4 million the upcoming fiscal year due to the shut down and that we represented approximately $100 million annually in economic impact to the regional economy.

We next received valuable support from IAVM’s President, Brad Mayne and Board Chair, Tammy Koolbeck, who advocated for our cause. They were both amazing and were an impactful force throughout our efforts. We were able to utilize the expertise of IAVM’s lobbyists, Elizabeth Frazee and Chani Wiggins of Twin Logic Strategies. They offered strategic direction and opened lines of communication to several influential politicians to further our cause.

We also sought out advocacy from Moline Mayor, Stephanie Acri, and our current Board Chair, Reggie Freeman, who is also the Mayor of East Moline. They wrote letters and put us in touch with key players in the state. The Quad City Chamber of Commerce President, Paul Rumler, and Visit Quad Cities President, Dave Herrell, were terrific resources for information as well.

The majority of our efforts since May have been directed towards getting included in government stimulus bills to qualify for the Payroll Protection Package and the Cares Act. Although there wasn’t any immediate success, we continually educated more and more political figures in regard to our dilemma and I believe getting more people involved ultimately paved the way for our next push for Coronavirus related expenditure relief.

In July one of our Board members, Jeff Nelson, informed us that Navy Pier and some of the museums in Chicago that were also Illinois Authorities similar to ours, were candidates for government assistance through the Local Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency Support (CURES) program. This program is federally funded from the Coronavirus Relief Fund using dollars allocated to Illinois through the CARES Act. We contacted The Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity and discovered that we had to act fast because the deadline to apply was only a couple days away so our staff leaped into action. Thanks to the efforts of our Assistant Executive Director, Rocky Jones, Sr. Accounting Manager, Kim McVey, and Director of Operations, Kevin Snodgrass, who put together all the details for the DCEO application, we got it submitted just before the deadline for applications expired. We were informed on August 20th that we were eligible to qualify for reimbursement of up to $484,622 in relief assistance!

The TaxSlayer Center will be using these reimbursement funds to underwrite some of the COVID-19 related projects we are undertaking in the coming months during the shutdown. We have projected expenditures of over $1 million on these projects. Among the upgrades will be a retrofit to automatic flush valves and faucets in all public restrooms, bacteria killing UV lights to disinfect escalator handrails, WIFI upgrades to support mobile concession ordering platforms for contactless payment, installation of hand sanitizing dispensers throughout the facility, the purchase of electrostatic sprayers to disinfect seats & armrests along with new PPE inventory and several other COVID-19 remediation measures.

The program deadline for project completing and submittal for reimbursement is December 30 and our goal is to have all projects completed by mid-November. When the time comes to re-open for events, we want to make sure that our guests and employees have the safest possible environment and feel comfortable coming back to the building. We are also using this down-time to complete several other capital improvement projects using funds from our reserves to update our venue and plan to host a Grand-Reopening Ceremony prior to our first event back once the indoor mass gathering mandates are lifted.

The moral of this story is to use every resource available and keep swinging because you never know when it could pay-off. Hopefully this information is helpful to other venues that face this same situation.

Scott Mullen, CVE is the Executive Director of the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, IL, and serves on the IAVM Board as Director of Arenas.