The Crookston Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) met Thursday morning inside the Crookston Inn in the Northshore Room.
After the Call to Order, the board began the meeting by reviewing and approving their meeting minutes on September 15 and reviewed Treasurer Jess Bengtson’s report for the bills payable. Bengtson reported that the October accounts payable had sent out a lot of checks to local organizations in September and were waiting on confirmation for ads on KROX and to boost their ad appearances on Facebook. There were also some corrections that had to be made on an ad for the Crookston Times for $420.21. The bureau approved the minutes and report unanimously.
The bureau then heard from UMC Marketing Instructor Courtney Bergman on proposing students in her Integrated Marketing Communications class create Marketing Planning of the bureau’s subcommittees for future events for the city. “I like when students can get real hands-on experience, and if that helps benefit the Crookston community, that’s a great opportunity for both Crookston and the students,” Bergman explained. “What they’re going to be working on is putting together a marketing plan, which is some of their learning objectives in the course is to learn how to put together a strategic marketing plan for a business. This is an opportunity to work with the CVB to create a marketing plan for them.” Bergman explained that the students would create a plan that would be presented to the bureau to discuss and potentially follow through with for a business the student chooses. It also allowed the students a chance to intern at a certain business they are interested in. Bergman reported that she would begin working on the project’s outline and bring it back to the bureau before their next meeting on November 10.
The bureau then heard from Crookston Inn Owner Laurie Stahlecker about inviting Crookston High School Activities Director Nate Lubarski to take the place of Greg Garmen to join the bureau as a non-voting board. However, Lubarski did have issues at the moment coaching the High School Pirates Football. So, they would try to reach out to him again to see if he was interested in joining or if a representative could be sent to his place if he could not come to a meeting. Afterward, city council member Steve Erickson mentioned that he was planning on leaving the council at the beginning of January after the general election, but the bureau requires one city council member to be a part of the bureau. Erickson reported that he would ask other City Council members if they would be willing to take his place for future meetings in 2023.
The bureau then heard from Bureau Interim Coordinator Nell DeBoer on payroll accountability. She began with the calendar of upcoming events for the bureau to complete for the rest of October in case DeBoer cannot help finish them.
The bureau then heard from Jess Bengtson on a discussion about withholding tax. DeBoer brought forward a chart of the past Lodging taxes they had received from the city to help the bureau restructure its marketing while targeting different times of the year. The most recent deposit they received was for August 2022 for $6,723.36, which was $1,514.78 less than what they had received in 2021 at $8,238.14. However, DeBoer noted that they had received a $10,028.91 deposit from the city in October 2021, which was a significant increase from the other deposits they received during the rest of the year, and they were interested in seeing the check for October in December to learn if it was a consistent action for that month or if there was a special event that caused the rise in 2021.
The bureau then began discussing the new city’s entrance signs’ lighting. Jess Bengtson reported that the lights for the sign at the city’s north entrance by the University of Minnesota Crookston was fixed and fully operational. However, the sign at the south end of the city by the American Crystal Sugar and Titan Machinery was not. The bureau requested Bengtson to request American Crystal Sugar to maintain the lighting of the signs throughout the year to help the signs look inviting at night and let visitors know they entered the town. The bureau began talking about a third sign for the city’s east side, but they could not make it into the city’s budget. “There was talk about a third entrance sign that would go by Christian Brothers Ford. That, unfortunately, did not make it in the first round of sign orders,” Bengtson explained. “We’re waiting to talk to the city about that one for next year’s budget.” However, Bengtson noted that the cost of the sign would be much higher at that time due to inflation.
The bureau then began reviewing “What Brings You to Crookston” drafts. DeBoer noted that she had there were 77 people had come to the city for construction, 24 for sports, and campus tours at UMC. 179 people came in for business/work, and 105 for Wedding/Wedding Showers. They had also seen 159 Harvest Workers come into the city for the current beet harvest, 102 just traveling through, and four people come to stay as overflow from concerts in Grand Forks.
The bureau then began a discussion recapping the highlights of their last events committee meeting. DeBoer reported they wanted to turn one-night events into overnight stays at the city, “We have some really strong one-day events, which as the CVB, we’re unable to fund for the marketing for those events,” DeBoer explained. “We want to try to turn those into overnight stays, which is great for Crookston, and we can also help them with the marketing.” Other goals the events committee wished to begin was to start working with key players/groups to collaborate efforts and choose three major projects to focus on and make into annual weekend events in 2023. These projects included starting Oktoberfest weekends in September and tying them into other current events like Citywide garage sales, Pioneer Day, and Cornstalk Jamboree. The events could have them bring in eight to ten breweries and a live band to play for the city. Another idea was a Hunter’s Weekend in November and tying them into November Small Business Saturday and Sip N Shop downtown. This would hopefully have them bring in unique stores and antiques to be sold at the events. The final idea was a Fight the Frost Weekend in January, which would tie in with Bounce House and Kids activities at the Crookston Armory and have Craft and Vendor shows with dance or comedy nights in the evening.
The Crookston Visitor’s Bureau’s next meeting will be on Thursday, November 10, in the Crookston Inn Ballroom.
