County Mayor Weston Wamp said Wednesday that the county is planning to include $500,000 in the upcoming budget for a new Sports and Events Corporation.
He said it will be headed by Tim Morgan, who was the longtime chief sports officer at the Chattanooga Tourism Co. (former Visitors Bureau). The Tourism Co. went through a recent reorganization, it was stated.
County Mayor Wamp said Mr. Morgan has assembled a strong board of directors for the new venture.
He said one of the chief aims of the group will be to lead in the effort to locate a large new youth sports complex here. He said Chattanooga has long lost out in income spent at such tournaments at local restaurants, hotels and shops.
He said it would have "huge economic potential and would be good for our kids" as well as visiting players and their families and friends.
Ken Smith said such a group would be "a maximum revenue generator."
Commissioner Gene-o Shipley said he was going this weekend to his grandson's ball tournament at a small town in Alabama. He said Chattanooga needed a similar complex.
Commissioner David Sharpe said the first time he heard about the new sports group was when he was studying the new county budget book. He said he had asked for the group's business plan, but had not received it, though "I'm told there is one."
Commissioner Chip Baker said he favors having a separate group for sports promotion rather than it being a part of the Tourism Co.
He asked about the county giving the group $1 million rather than the $500,000.
Also at the county budget hearing, there was discussion about an effort to have the city of Chattanooga contribute more toward the marketing program of the Tourism Co. Hugh Morrow, president and CEO of Ruby Falls, said there are six entities getting a share of some $25 million of local hotel/motel tax collections and they all "need to come to the table."
He said a Marriott was built at Collegedale and it now takes in $175,000 in hotel/motel funds, while East Ridge gets over $1 million. Mr. Morrow said Soddy Daisy and Signal Mountain get hotel/motel collections from vacation rentals.
He said it's important that funding be made available for a full marketing program touting the Scenic City to visitors from Birmingham, Huntsville, New Orleans, Atlanta and Nashville and elsewhere.
Mr. Morrow said that with all the new hotels that are in place that Chattanooga needs to attract more than 2,000 more visitors per day to fill up the rooms.
Concerning getting extra help from the city for marketing, Commissioner David Sharpe cautioned that an agreement from several decades ago that the county use its hotel/motel funds for marketing and the city for 21st Century Waterfront debt service had worked well.