Fort Smith Convention Center COO hired

Timothy Seeberg has been selected as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Fort Smith Convention Center.

Fort Smith Advertising and Promotion (A&P) Commissioners came out of executive session on Tuesday (March 27) at the monthly meeting with a unanimous vote naming Seeberg as the preferred candidate for the position.

“We are very pleased to know that Tim will be joining us to help guide the future of the Convention Center on a day to day basis,” Commission Chairman and Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders said.

“We had a solid list of facility professionals from which to choose, which I think speaks well for our Fort Smith facility,” Fort Smith A&P Executive Director Claude Legris added, noting that the Commission has entered into negotiations with Seeberg concerning his salary and first official day of employment.

The new COO comes to Fort Smith from the Two Rivers Convention Center and Avalon Theatre in Grand Junction, Colo. While Seeberg will report directly to Legris, he was not in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting to comment.

Seeberg was interviewed for the position on March 15, two days after the A&P considered candidate Colin Holman. It is not known how many applicants submitted for the position, but Holman and Seeberg were the only two to receive formal interviews.

Operations of the convention center were the focus of a Nov. 8, 2011, special election that saw a 1% prepared food tax plan rejected by 62.7% of Fort Smith citizens who voted. The vote ended about three years of study on how best to fund the center that was expanded in the late 1990s. A 1% prepared food tax was estimated to raise about $1.8 million annually.

The Fort Smith Board of Directors eventually cut $777,000 from the general fund budget to provide funding for continued operations of the convention center. The city also renewed a convention center operating lease with the Fort Smith A&P.

In other business, the A&P Commissioners voted unanimously to award three grants from its discretionary funds totaling $4,000. The awards effectively wipe out the 2012 discretionary budget, though Legris said that “if revenues continue to perform well,” the Commission could revisit additional grant applications before the end of the year.

The Greenwood School District was the big winner with a $2,250 award for hosting the state volleyball tournament. The RAC AquaHawgs & Fort Smith Tideriders received a $1,000 award for their upcoming swim meet. Finally, Bowling World and the Fort Smith PBA Open received the remaining $750 award.

The Convention Center Fund Balance ended February at $314,159, up from $269,100 at the start of the month. The month’s two top-earning events for the Convention Center were the Fort Smith Volleyball Club, totaling $22,492.50 and the Fort Smith Home Show, which brought in an additional $12,590.

Adding respectable performances were the Riverdance (on Feb. 23), which brought in $4,743; the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA; on Feb. 1), which brought in $3,621; and the Fort Smith Symphony Earquake (on Feb. 6), which brought in $3,271.75. Total event revenues were up nearly $3,800 from the same period in 2011, moving from $53,828.44 to $57,624.29 in 2012.