Before delving into today’s topic, I want to remind you of the B.O.S.S. (Businesses Offering Strategic Solutions) event scheduled Aug. 23 at the Bluemont Hotel. The event is called “Building Your Professional Team” and is targeted for small businesses and entrepreneurs looking for assistance in a variety of categories including accounting, banking, legal issues, money management and insurance. The event starts at 10 a.m. Go here for more information and/or to register. I’m sure many of you read last week that the Country Stampede was considering a new home. If you missed it, their social media post is here. We were a little surprised to see Manhattan’s name specifically mentioned in the post. As the point of contact for these kinds of opportunities for the City of Manhattan, our Visit Manhattan team received a copy of the RFP and are going about their duty to complete the due diligence necessary to respond to the questions proposed by Stampede (location, logistics, etc.). We are aware of other communities that have received the same RFP. Normally, we would not have commented on this during the process. However, the mention of Manhattan on Stampede’s Facebook page meant we started receiving phone calls from media outlets around the state. To make sure we had a consistent message, Visit Manhattan Director Marcia Rozell acknowledged our receipt and that we would be visiting with regional officials to determine viability. Her statement is here. There are several factors at play, not the least of which is a new owner of Country Stampede and a July date as opposed to a June date. However, the factors that were cited as the reason for leaving Manhattan (no permanent facility, state park lease, further from Kansas City metro area) are still the same. It will be interesting to see if and how those views may have changed. It’s important to note that the Chamber and Visit Manhattan will not make the decision alone to submit or not submit. We will gather information and respond appropriately to questions in the RFP. If there is a place to hold Stampede and an open date at the location, the owners will decide whether to consider Manhattan and will work to secure the proper agreements with all relevant parties. We look forward to the dialog and, as always, will represent Manhattan as a world class destination for major events.
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