Lynnwood Convention Center posts double-digit profit gain

LYNNWOOD — Rare is the good news heralding business growth over the past few years. However, the management team at the Lynnwood Convention Center got to celebrate a double-digit lift in profits in 2010.

Last year was a banner year for the five-year-old convention center, with more than

$2 million in gross revenues posted, marking the highest level of sales in the facility’s history and 10 percent over 2009.

Creativity and responsiveness were crucial, General Manager Kelvin D. Moore told The Enterprise.

“The end of 2008, we saw it coming,” Moore said, referring to the edge of the recession. “We did some deep searching into what we could do (immediately) to improve our performance. We had a choice of cutting back on expenses or being aggressive. We chose the latter.”

The group began to focus on what its customers and meeting planners wanted — catering deals to clients by adding flexibility into billing and contracts.

“One size does not fit all,” Moore said. “We have broken out of the box that we had as convention center management. In that industry, the center usually tells customers what the rules they have to follow are. We have turned that on its ear and we ask our customers, ‘What do you need?’ We want them to feel like royalty when they are here.”

The strategy worked, he said. Last year’s profits came as the result of sales of 22 conventions, 83 banquets, 11 consumer shows, 22 special events and 309 day meetings.

The facility is uniquely poised, Moore added. Lynnwood Convention Center is smaller than most convention facilities in the area. Food, beverage and audio-visual functions are in-house rather than contracted services, and Internet services also are under management’s control.

“That puts us in control of our own destiny, revenue streams and service offerings,” Moore said.

Commercial partnerships include Frontier Communications, which sponsors the wireless Internet within the building and hosts lounges that dot the public spaces. Local small businesses, including adjacent Olympus Spa and Body by Burnis, have taken advantage of packages that put their name in front of attendees and visitors on the center’s video boards and in literature racks.

Eco-friendly initiatives also have contributed to the center’s bottom line, according to Will Christison, director of operations.

“We have saved more than 10 percent in our hauling fees from 2009 to 2010,” Christison said. “Green initiatives are included in everything that we do.”

Recycling is part of the building’s culture. More than three-quarters of the internal cleaning and sanitation agents are void of harsh fumes or residue. Food scraps and serving materials, such as cups and forks, are composted.

Since the building is newer, lighting, air conditioning and other building systems feature the latest in energy-efficient technology. So-called smart controls heat and cool the building based on occupancy, zones and usage. Outside air is used to cool the building and Christison is eyeing using “gray” wastewater for landscaping irrigation.

“We are aiming for our coffee stations (set up during events) to be 100 percent compostable with everything put into special garbage bags,” Christison added.

The center was opened in 2005 following the 1999 formation of the Lynnwood Public Facilities District.

Since 2010,* the 55,000-square-foot facility has hosted more than 80,000 people at 447 events, generating an estimated $17.3 million in direct and indirect economic impact for the local economy, according to Moore. A typical convention includes 350 people within the center’s 34,000 square feet of meeting space.

SMG is the operating company managing the services of the convention center. The Pennsylvania-based company manages more than 200 public facilities worldwide, including Kent’s Showare Center and the food and beverage operations for Seattle’s McCaw Hall.

*Correction, Feb. 10, 2011: This article originally stated the Lynnwood Convention Center has hosted more than 80,000 people since its opening.