Regional convention bureau deserves a serious review

Regional convention bureaudeserves a serious review
As a means to improve tourism services and to strengthen a regional identity for the Mahoning Valley, a proposal to consolidate convention and visitors bureaus in the area merits serious study.
Mahoning County Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock recently proposed re-examining the viability of establishing a joint CVB for Mahoning and Trumbull counties. Her timing and logic are on target.
Historically, convention and visitors bureaus in both counties have been plagued with controversy. The more time and energy spent hashing out messy disputes means less time and energy can be spent on the bureaus' common mission.
Most recently, the Board of County Commissioners in Trumbull County canceled its contract with its CVB and has begun soliciting proposals from public relations firms, nonprofit agencies and others to promote tourism in the county.
In Mahoning County, disputes between the Youngstown/Mahoning County CVB and county officials resulted in termination of that CVB funding last fall.
Clearly, no one stands to suffer by ending the status quo and experimenting with new ideas.
"Right now, our convention bureau is up in turmoil and everything has to be looked at," said Trumbull County Commissioner Joseph Angelo Jr. "I think we have to find a better way than what we have currently."
Sherlock's way warrants attention.
Potential assets
From an accounting standpoint, Sherlock rightly argues that costs could be cut and duplication of services reduced. But the logic behind a successful consolidation transcends the obvious economies of scale.
The two-county operation could offer potential tourists twice the appeal of the current competing bureaus. We can envision day trips that explore Mill Creek Park and the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown and then cross county lines to take in the National Packard Museum and a Minor League baseball game.
After all, for most Valley residents, the border lines separating Mahoning and Trumbull counties are blurred. Economically, culturally and socially, the two counties are inextricably intertwined. Bed tax revenue from both counties already goes to support the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.
It just makes sense then that the two-county linkage should be reflected in the way we project ourselves to outsiders. We now have that opportunity.
A model two-county bureau
For starters, officials in both counties should study the operations of the Auglaize and Mercer Counties Convention and Visitors Bureau in western Ohio on the Indiana border. Donna Grube, executive director of that two-county CVB, said the bureau was established in the late 1980s. It grew out of the recognition of common assets between the two counties and of duplication of efforts among three chambers of commerce in the region. The CVB board's membership includes equal representation from Mercer and Auglaize counties.
Perhaps there are valuable tips from that joint bureau's bylaws that could be applied here. Perhaps there are compelling reasons why such a two-county venture might work well there but not so well here.
We'd like to think there is little to stand in the way of forging stronger regional ties, other than the parochial attitudes and destructive turf wars that have hampered regionalism here for decades.
It's time to tear down those roadblocks and explore the potential for a Mahoning Valley CVB.