The Crookston Visitors Bureau (CVB) met on Thursday morning inside the Crookston Inn.
The meeting began with the board approving the meeting minutes for March 9, and approving the treasurers report and bills payable, which the board did unanimously. The board also made a motion and approved moving $75,000 from their checking account into their savings account.
OX CART DAYS GRANT
The next item on the agenda was an Ox Cart Days Grant Presentation by James Pogatshnik who will be the Chair of the Ox Cart Days Committee in 2023. Pogatshnik was asking the board for $3,000 to help keep the event growing. “The CVB is a really important part of Crookston, and their main mission is to get people into Crookston,” said Pogatshnik. “Our mission for Ox Cart Days is essentially the same, so what better way to associate the CVB with Ox Cart Days than to associate ourselves with the grant and to solidify the relationship between the two. We are in a position with Ox Cart Days where we are not only promoting the festival itself at this point, but also promoting Crookston and trying to get people here. So, I think it definitely makes sense to apply for this grant like we have in the past.”
The board will review the grant application and make a decision at their board meeting next month.
MARKETING DISCUSSION
The board then had a marketing discussion on how to best use their funds to attract people into Crookston. The CVB is waiting to spend funds in certain areas of advertisement until they can meet with Crookston Community Development Director Kari Kirschbaum. “I’ve had some personal discussion with Kari (Kirschbaum) and her mission and thought process in spearheading the EDA in Crookston is through marketing,” said CVB Chair Bob Magsam. “Marketing is obviously our game here at the CVB so she wants to make sure she can get us all on the same page, so we aren’t duplicating efforts and are marketing the City of Crookston in the best way possible. So, the plan is to pool groups together moving forward and that’s going to take some time to set up meetings and get the ball rolling with that. We all have the same common goal in place, but now we just have to meet and make sure we’re on the same page so we can make a big impact.”
Magsam and any members of the board that are available will be scheduling a meeting soon with Kirschbaum to discuss strategies moving forward. One area the CVB will be spending money on is with KROX Radio. The CVB currently spends money with KROX, and after hearing a presentation and getting statistics from KROX GM Chris Fee at their last meeting, they have decided to continue advertising on the KROX website. “We are going to continue with KROX and I think there are a lot of benefits to doing so,” said Magsam. “We liked the information we heard at the last meeting from Chris (Fee) and KROX gets a lot of hits and a lot of traffic on their website for a small town radio station. The discussion with the board is how we can get more exposure. So, we are going to spend a little bit of more money but that will get us better ad space on the website, and that will help get more hits and get information out to the public on tourism and the things that Crookston has to offer.”
The board approved spending a total of $4,800 for the next year. By agreeing to a year long deal, and instead of advertising just month to month, the CVB will save a total of $600. The other advertising option the board is planning on moving forward with is KVLY TV in Fargo. The board agreed they will spend some money with KVLY, however, there are several options, so the board did not come to a decision. They will have all the options emailed to them and then a vote on which option they will use will be done sometime later this month.
OTHER ITEMS
The board then heard a proposal on the Fournet Building from Chair Bob Magsam. There is space available in the building and owner Jeff Evers would like to have the CVB take a small space near the entryway of the building where they could put their guides, and other information. The cost to the CVB wouldn’t be for renting the space but assisting with some utilities which could range near $100 a month. After some discussion, the board decided they will continue to pursue the opportunity and visit Evers in the coming weeks to gain more information.
The next item on the agenda was reviewing money spent on a grant given for a hockey tournament in Crookston. Jake Fee on behalf of the Crookston Parks & Rec department turned in receipts from a recent hockey tournament in the total amount of $2,260.79. After some discussion, the board is going to receive some more information on how the funds were used, and then they will get the expenses taken care of. The board then took some time to review their grant request guidelines. Magsam wants the board to take a look at the guidelines and come back to the next meeting with any possible changes and updates to make sure their money is being spent correctly.
The next meeting will take place on Thursday, May 11.
