The Crookston Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) met Thursday morning inside the Crookston Inn.
Treasurer’s Report
After the Call to Order, the board began the meeting by reviewing and approving the meeting minutes on December 22 and Treasurer Jess Bengtson’s report for the bills payable and the 2022 Year end Budget. Bengtson reported they had paid $83,882.64 in checking and $15,447.84 in MMA. They had withdrawn $89 for the website monthly, $24.54 for their cell phone plan, $250 for their ad on KROX’s website, $141.67 for mailing and social media ads, $783.67 for the payroll for November and December, $31.44 for quarterly taxes to the Minnesota Department of Revenue, $2,973.41 for the final payment to KVLY for radio commercials, and $28.80 for a check order from the American Federal Bank. She also noted they had two bills to approve: an $89 bill for their website’s monthly fee, two invoices to KROX and MACPB, and $37 to H&R Block for W2s for some of its members. She also reported that the lodging taxes were delayed by about two months. Bengtson then went into the actuals for their budget that had been updated at the end of the year. She reported they had deposited $74,130.52 in 2022 for their expected Lodging Tax but only received $55,945.26 for their total revenue. She then informed that they had budgeted $14,716 for their total General and Administrative expenses but spent an actual of $12,522.01. She also reported that they had budgeted $30,200 for their total marketing and promotion but had spent an actual of $31,894.51. These gave them a total income of $45,500, with their total expenses coming to $44,916, giving them a net income of $584. Bengtson reported they were still waiting for the final 2022 budgeting taxes, confirming the final tax expenses. The bureau approved the minutes and report unanimously.
Treasurer taxes and report
The bureau then heard the Treasurer’s taxes and report from Bengtson from HR Block. Bengtson explained that they had looked into getting an account when they formed the bureau, and after she had spoken to H&R Block, they were willing to make them a client to do their taxes and payroll reports. With a setup fee of $250, a payroll of $50 a month, and $75 for quarterly taxes. The board chose to table the item for their next meeting in February.
Jake Solberg-Hockey Tournament Update
The bureau then welcomed Parks and Recs Director Jake Solberg to hear updates on the upcoming hockey tournament. Solberg explained they will hold a regional and district tournament on March 4-5, with ten teams in total coming to participate. The bureau’s event committee noted they had a few ideas of town events for the families coming for the tournaments, like a spaghetti dinner at the Crookston Inn and a deal at the Crookston Grand Theatre. “What Jake wanted to do and inform the partnerships with the Chamber, CVB, and any entities in Crookston is to make this a “wow” tournament for a lot of these hockey teams and show them what Crookston has to offer. We welcome them in and provide maybe some extra stuff,” Crookston Visitors Bureau Chair Bob Magsam explained. “Previously, we made contact with things such as opening the pool and giving him an open swim and other various things like a potential arcade setup at the Crookston Inn or a special meal. It’s just trying to get everybody together to form one big collaboration to benefit Crookston and then promote Crookston to a lot of these outside teams.”
Solberg explained there would be about five games for the 15U tournament, while the District A Squirts would have a pool play for their games. Along with the tournaments, more events would be happening in town, like two games UMC was playing that weekend, which would allow them to show the city off to even more visitors. Solberg explained that they were looking to print out welcome banners to put up in the city and the visiting towns and on social media to promote the tournament. The board agreed to discuss the event further when more details became available.
Election of Executive Board Officers
The bureau then held a set of elections for Executive Board Officers. Chair Bob Magsam reported that he was willing to stay as the Bureau Chair, which the board elected to do. The next election was for the Vice Chair. Note Taker Laurie Stahlecker nominated Ellie Koepp for the position, which the bureau approved. The next position was for the Bureau Secretary, which Laurie Stahlecker nominated herself for, which the bureau approved. The final position up for election was the Bureau Treasurer. Ellie Koepp nominated Dean Adams for the position, which the bureau approved.
2023 Committees
The bureau then began discussions about the 2023 Committees. However, the bureau voiced its displeasure with the committees as many times there was a lot of overlap with the other committees that they would have to bring back to the board or share with other committees to discuss for later meetings. Stahlecker noted that mainly for the Events Committee, they weren’t allowed to create events, and they always had to walk back on any they made. However, they noted the budgeting committee still needed to exist to help figure out the budget and other expenses, so they decided to leave it intact. “The board decided that there’s a lot of overlap with the committees getting there and discussing certain things relating to marketing. Instead of having that overlap or repeat, it’s better to just let the board make that decision and have the meetings as a whole. It alleviates some meetings and subcommittees, so the board’s wishes was to remove the marketing committee, which doesn’t mean marketing is going away. It’s just going to be a committee as a whole, per se. We did keep the budget committee in place to set up our future budgets and stay in line working with our Treasurer to ensure that all the checks and balances are in line for us.” The bureau then selected the committee members, consisting of Treasurer Dean Adams, Chairperson Bob Magsam, Ellie Koepp, and Cory Dallager. The board approved its creation and the dissolution of the other committees unanimously.
Tourism Coordinator status
The bureau then heard from Magsam on the Tourism Coordinator application status. He explained they had been working on the position’s job description and would send them out to the other members to review before they begin advertising the position.
Explore MN Grant
The board then heard from Bob Magsam and Jess Bengston about the status of the Explore MN Grant with KJAN Production. Magsam explained the final paperwork was sent in and were waiting on matching the $5,000, which had to be done by February 15. He explained they were working with Bo Brorby to get drone pictures and videos of the businesses and hotels to help them with potential commercials and digital advertising. “We partnered with Bo and KJAN Productions. What Bo is going to do for us is go around and take photos of our businesses and get some video and drone footage of different areas in Crookston,” Bob Magsam explained. “It’s to help us in the future if we do commercials or digital advertising. We’ll then have all these images and videos to help promote all our businesses. We are working with Bo, and we just have to set up some times to get into a lot of the businesses to better businesses and community.”
Crookston Visitor’s Guides
The bureau then heard from Stahlecker on an update with the Visitor’s Guides. She reported that the last of the Visitor’s Guides signs and holders were completed by the Crookston High School’s Community Projects class and were going to give the signs to Valley Technology Park by the request of CHEDA for any potential outside businesses that were visiting and in the main lobby of the Crookston Sports Center.
CVB BYLAWS
The board then heard from Bob Magsam on the BYLAWS. Magsam reported he had delivered them to each member for them to review and make any needed adjustments. A subject brought forward was that many voting members had not attended many meetings in a row without proper warning, which can void their membership in the bureau.
Board Reports
The board finished the meeting hearing Board Reports from Jess Bengston on a report of the Downtown Crookston Development Chamber, where she reported they were welcoming a Bureau member to join them for their meetings every third Wednesday of the month at UMC. She also reported they were planning to work on some grant items with CHEDA and create some potential music and concert events in the summer.
The Crookston Visitor’s Bureau’s next meeting will be on Thursday, February 9, in the Crookston Inn Ballroom.
