Volusia County recently issued the following announcement.
The Volusia County Council’s hopes of mining a new revenue source to help fund county operations are moving forward after the council gave tentative approval Tuesday to an ambitious plan to sell sponsorships and naming rights to county buildings, facilities and programs.
The council voted Tuesday to retain an international firm, The Superlative Group, to market county facilities to businesses willing to pay the county for the right to put their name on government assets such as buildings, parks, trails and beach ramps. The next step will be for staff to negotiate a contract with the company and bring it to the council for approval. It’s unknown how much revenue naming and sponsorship opportunities could bring into the county’s coffers. But council members unanimously agreed that pursuing marketing income was worth the effort.
“I think it’s timely that we’re doing this,” said Councilwoman Barb Girtman. “We’re talking about rebranding. We’re talking about taking our area to the next level. And to me, this is a part of that.”
The county solicited responses in November from companies with expertise in full-service sponsorship and naming rights consulting. The Superlative Group, which is based in Cleveland but also has offices in London and Las Vegas, was the only one to respond. The company has a large portfolio of public and private sector clients, including Miami-Dade County, Arlington County in Virginia, San Diego County in California, the Minnesota Orchestra and numerous cities, convention centers, colleges and sports and transit authorities around the country.
The first part of the company’s task will be to identify and place a marketing value on all of the county’s assets that have the potential to generate revenue. Under Tuesday’s tentative agreement, the county will pay the company $90,000 to perform the asset inventory and valuation. The job is expected to take approximately three to four months to complete.
“We look at programs. We look at physical assets,” Superlative’s chief operating officer, Kyle Canter, told council members. “We look at any and all opportunity that we see as a sponsorable asset.”
After the inventory and valuation are completed, the next step will be to develop a strategic campaign to market the assets. Superlative’s team of sales executives, valuation analysts, attorneys and accountants will manage the entire process, from generating prospects to negotiating contracts and making sure the companies that sign on fulfill their end of the agreements. In addition to the initial $90,000, Superlative also will get a commission on all of the revenue they generate for the county. The amount of the commission will be determined through contract talks with the company. Under terms of the proposal, the county would retain final approval authority over naming and sponsorship decisions to ensure all deals are consistent with the county’s mission.
County Chair Jeff Brower acknowledged that some concerns were expressed when the idea was first floated, such as fears that the paid promotions might look tacky. But he and other council members said Superlative’s presentation convinced them that the company will ensure that sponsorship and naming rights opportunities are tasteful. And the money generated by the deal – well that would benefit taxpayers.
“When I look at monetizing as much as we can, I look it as that’s money that taxpayers aren’t going to have to pay. This is money to run the county,” said Brower. “I think every one of us agrees up here that you will approach this very professionally, with great respect to our community.”
Original source can be found here.
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