Both the convention center and the private hotel are jointly managed by Interstate Hotels and Resorts. The Lancaster County Convention Center Authority has no direct control over its own facilities, being limited to oversight of its operation. This leaves open the possibility of blurring the lines between taxpayer dollars and private revenue.
Right now, the precedents for interstate Hotels & Resorts [the management firm] and the Penn Square Partners reporting to the LCCCA are still being developed. This is the time when financial expertise is desperately needed on the LCCCA board. Once these precedents and procedures are in place, it will become increasingly difficult to change their direction.
There is a need for the LCCCA to have hospitality and convention management experience, which is currently provided by executive director Kevin Molloy (who has extensive experience in managing convention centers), and board chairman Kevin Fry (former marketing director of a large local hotel and convention center, and former board member of the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau). In the future, it might be wise to add even more board members with appropriate experience.
However, the issues facing the LCCCA at this time require expertise in dealing with numbers and financial management. An LCCCA board with three (or more) members that are well-equipped to deal with financial issues will serve well to make the project much more accountable to taxpayers, now and into the future.
