Molly Rawn named executive director for Fayetteville A&P
by July 8, 2016 1:43 pm 332 views
Molly Rawn has been named executive director for the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission, a tourism agency that annually collects and manages more than $3 million in revenue from city hospitality taxes.
Rawn, who is set to begin in the job on Aug. 8, was chosen from a short list of candidates that included at least two people responding from a national search, according to Commission Chairman Matthew Petty.
Petty said in Friday’s (July 8) statement announcing the hire that Rawn will earn a salary of $85,000, in line with what the past two executive directors were paid.
“I have called Fayetteville home for 11 years and I am eager to take on such an important role as an ambassador for our city,” said Rawn. “I look forward to promoting Fayetteville within our region, state and beyond.”
Rawn leaves her post as director of development and communications at the Scott Family Amazeum, where she led the museum’s capital campaign efforts prior to opening and oversaw fundraising, membership and public relations efforts. Rawn held positions as director of membership at KUAF Public Radio and assistant director of development at Fulbright College, both at the University of Arkansas. Prior to that, she was the first director of development at the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter.
“The commission is thrilled Molly has accepted the position,” Petty said. “Her entrepreneurial spirit and understanding of regional opportunities make Molly well-suited to be Fayetteville’s next tourism director.”
The job opened when previous Executive Director Kym Hughes announced May 9 she was stepping down from the job July 1. Hughes cited family concerns as the reason for leaving. Hughes was with the A&P 15 months when she stepped down. She was hired following the retirement of Marilyn Heifner who logged 22 years with the A&P before retiring in January 2014.
A&P OPERATIONS, TAX REVENUE
As executive director of the Fayetteville A&P, Rawn will oversee a $3.5 million annual operating budget and more than a dozen staff. The Commission operates the Town Center, Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Visitor’s Center and the Clinton House Museum, in addition to granting up to $350,000 per year to local proposals. Revenues year-to-date in 2016 are up more than 8% compared to budget.
The city’s hospitality taxes can be used only to fund the arts, operate tourist-oriented facilities, and for “construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance, improvement, equipping and operation of public recreation facilities and for the payment of bonds.”
Fayetteville’s tourism sector, as measured by hospitality tax revenue, is doing well. Combined collections of the city’s hotel tax and prepared food tax totaled $3.066 million in 2015, up 7.3% compared to 2014 collections. For the first four months of 2016, the combined hospitality tax collections total $1.051 million, up 9.5% over the $959,472 during the same period in 2015, according to the recent Arkansas Tourism Ticker.
Hospitality tax revenue in January-April 2016 among the 17 Arkansas cities reviewed for the Arkansas Tourism Ticker was up 4.59% compared to the same period in 2015.
Northwest Arkansas’ tourism industry is also a job generator. The average monthly employment in the January-April period was 24,500, better than the 22,300 in the same period of 2015, and well ahead of the 17,350 just six years ago in the same period of 2010.