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Council favors vendor switch
Centerplate would be replaced by JAC
YOUNGSTOWN
City council members say they support the administration’s proposal to change the food-and-beverage vendor at the Covelli Centre.
The proposal would be to replace Centerplate, the center’s vendor since it opened nearly six years ago, with in-house operations run by JAC Management, which runs the facility’s day-to-day operations, and SMG, its management consultant.
The deal hinges on Centerplate’s agreeing to give up the contract, something it initially agreed to do and then nixed May 5, shortly after council members suggested looking at outside companies. A Centerplate official told The Vindicator in late May that the company is willing to reconsider if food-and-beverage operations are moved in-house.
Council members met Monday with Hank Abate, SMG’s senior vice president of arenas and stadiums, to discuss that proposed move.
After the meeting, council members said they’re willing to have the administration negotiate deals to switch vendors, saying it would bring more money to the center, and provide more flexibility for food and beverages to be sold at all events.
“It looks like the best deal is from SMG and JAC,” said Councilwoman Janet Tarpley, D-6th.
Councilwoman Annie Gillam, D-1st, agreed. “We’ll get a better deal switching,” she said.
Councilman Jamael Tito Brown, D-3rd, said he’s hopeful a deal can be made in the next 30 to 45 days.
“It could be sooner, but I’d like to give myself some room,” he said.
SAVOR, SMG’s food-and-beverage subsidiary, would help JAC run that aspect of the center, Abate said.
SAVOR would be paid a fee, yet to be determined, that would include training and oversight of food-and-beverage employees at the center, he said.
“It’s too early to discuss the additional costs,” Abate said.
But having the food-and-beverage operations kept in-house would not only make more money for the center, but also would provide more flexibility — such as $1 beer and $1 hot dog specials for certain events — and the use of local vendors to sell their items at the facility, he said.
“By doing it locally, you have more of a local flavor, and that helps the bottom line,” Abate said.
Abate said Monday that the facility could increase its food-and-beverage sales by at least $25,000 annually.
The city received $194,563 from the sale of food and drinks last year.
Eric Ryan, the head of JAC, has said his company could increase that amount by at least $100,000 annually by better cost controls and offering food and drinks at all events, no matter the size.
When told of Ryan’s financial projection, Abate said Monday, “I don’t want to put myself out on a limb and give a projection. It could be” $100,000. “We’re trying to bring in more business and that will increase the revenue for the city.”
The city’s administration will contact Centerplate probably next week to revisit the proposal to have that company permit food-and-beverage operations be run in-house, said Kyle Miasek, the city’s deputy finance director.
Under a proposal to get Centerplate to leave, the city would pay the company about $450,000, the balance of the $1.2 million the company spent for equipment and materials when the center was built in 2005.
The city could borrow the money it owes Centerplate from a lending institution and repay that loan on a monthly basis.
The payment would replace the $9,026 per month the city now pays toward the $1.2 million. If Centerplate stays, the payments would run through September 2015, the end of a 10-year contract signed by the city and the company. The city keeps all the equipment and materials after that deal expires. The city would keep the equipment and materials if Centerplate is replaced, as well.