{"id":16694,"date":"2015-04-16T22:22:11","date_gmt":"2015-04-17T02:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/new-civic-center-general-manager-sees-diversifying-activities-as-key-to-success.html"},"modified":"2015-04-16T22:22:11","modified_gmt":"2015-04-17T02:22:11","slug":"new-civic-center-general-manager-sees-diversifying-activities-as-key-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/new-civic-center-general-manager-sees-diversifying-activities-as-key-to-success\/","title":{"rendered":"New Civic Center General Manager Sees Diversifying Activities As Key To Success"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\"civic\n<\/div>\n
Jack Walter, general manager of the Glens Falls Civic Center, says as a community venue, the center needs to foster activities involving area organizations\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

BY BARBARA PINCKNEY<\/p>\n

The new general manager of the Glens
\nFalls Civic Center wants the community to
\nknow he has an open door policy.<\/p>\n

“Anyone who has any ideas they think
\nwould enhance our operations here, they
\ncan find me somewhere around the arena
\nand I certainly would love to listen to what
\nthey have to say,” Jack Walter said.<\/p>\n

Walter, who is 75, is an independent business
\nconsultant whose resume includes construction,
\nmanufacturing, pharmaceuticals
\nand oversight of the facilities and events of
\nLas Vegas casinos. Prior to moving to Glens
\nFalls seven years ago, he lived in Binghamton,
\nwhere he worked with NBT Bank. When
\nhe relocated to Glens Falls, to be with his
\ndaughter and her family, he began working
\nwith NBT’s local officials–including
\nregional president Dan Burke–overseeing
\narea construction projects.
\nBurke also is president of the Adirondack
\nCivic Center Coalition, a group of business
\nand civic leaders who took over operation
\nof the center from the city on Jan. 1. When
\nthe coalition decided it needed to trim costs
\nby replacing management company Global
\nSpectrum with an individual, Burke turned
\nto Walter.<\/p>\n

“He needed someone with my background,
\nso he said he would like me to take
\nthis over and make sure everything was
\ngoing well–which it is, now,” Walter said.<\/p>\n

Burke said Walter was the “logical
\nchoice,” at least for the short term. He said
\nhow long the arrangement will last is “up
\nin the air–probably six months to a year,
\nmaybe a little bit longer.”<\/p>\n

The agreement with Global Spectrum
\nwas scheduled to expire in April 2016, but
\nthe coalition bought out the contract so it
\nended March 31. Walter had already been
\non the job for a few weeks, to make for a
\nsmooth transition.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Huesling, who had managed the
\nCivic Center for Global Spectrum for about
\ntwo years, had already announced he was
\nmoving to St. Louis to take a position with
\nthe company’s arena there.<\/p>\n

Burke said the coalition, which has a
\n$650,000 lease-purchase agreement with
\nthe city for the arena, had no quarrel with
\nthe way Global Spectrum was doing its job.<\/p>\n

“But as we were looking at the contract,
\nthe financial model of the civic center was
\nnot sustainable, which is the major reason
\nthe city wanted to get out of the business,”
\nhe said. “So we are in there trying to figure
\nout how to make it sustainable.”<\/p>\n

The center has been operating with a loss
\nof between $500,000 and $600,000 a year.
\nBurke said compensation numbers are
\nconfidential, but with Walter in charge
\ninstead of Global Spectrum “the financial
\nmodel certainly changed.”<\/p>\n

The mission, which Walter will spearhead,
\nnow is to find other ways to improve
\nthe arena’s financial condition, both by
\nreducing costs and improving revenue.
\nIdeas include attracting more area organizations–
\nlike the Lower Adirondack
\nRegional Arts Council, which already announced
\nplans to have its fall festival at
\nthe center–to host events there. Another
\npossibility involves opening the ice rink
\nduring the summer.<\/p>\n

“This is a community venue,” Walter said.
\n“It is here to provide things for the community
\nto use and certainly that is the plan, to
\ncontinue that and to bring in more diverse
\ntypes of events. That’s what we’re looking
\nat doing in the future.”<\/p>\n

He said the arena is currently operating
\nwith a bare bones staff while it puts
\nnew processes in place. Jobs left vacant by
\nGlobal Spectrum’s departure will be filled
\nas needed.<\/p>\n

Walter also is working with the arena’s
\nsuppliers to improve operations. For example,
\nhe has asked Ovations Food Service,
\nthe arena’s preferred caterer, to use their
\nexperience with venues throughout the
\ncountry to come up with ways to enhance
\nthe center’s revenue.<\/p>\n

The coalition also is looking at giving the
\n35-year-old arena a facelift, in time.
\nWhile there is much to be done, Walter is
\npleased with how it is all going.<\/p>\n

“We’re very, very happy, we are operating
\nvery well–and all we’re doing is setting the
\nground work for what is going to be coming,”
\nhe said. “There has been a tremendous response
\nfrom everybody, they are all thrilled
\nwe are going to be doing all these wonderful
\nthings here and everybody is looking
\nforward to it.”<\/p>\n

Photo by Todd Bissonette Photography<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jack Walter, general manager of the Glens Falls Civic Center, says as a community venue, the center needs to foster activities involving area organizations BY BARBARA PINCKNEY The new general manager of the Glens Falls Civic Center wants the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[66,91],"class_list":["post-16694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-news","tag-business-news","tag-glens-falls"],"yoast_head":"\r\nNew Civic Center General Manager Sees Diversifying Activities As Key To Success - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/new-civic-center-general-manager-sees-diversifying-activities-as-key-to-success\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Civic Center General Manager Sees Diversifying Activities As Key To Success - 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