HomeMy WebLinkAboutCHOC Visitors Bureau Minutes 101718 For Approval November 14, 2018
MINUTES
Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board of Directors Meeting
October 17, 2018
The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau met at
UNC Health Care, Hillsborough Campus
Board Members Present : Kayla Dempsey, Lydia Lavelle, Anthony Carey, Chair, Tim Hoke, Aaron Bachenheimer, Andrew
Strickland , Jeff Stickler, Mark Bell , Tanya Moore, Rosemary Waldorf, Annette Stone, Elinor Landess
Not Present : Lee Storrow, Rachel Schaevitz, Mark Sherburne, David Brooks, Libby Hough , Penny Rich , Shannan
Campbell
Staff attendance : Laurie Paolicelli, Marlene Barbera , Allison Chambers, Travis Myren
Also present : Anna Wu , Associate Vice - Chancellor for Facilities Services at UNC, Gordon Merklein , Associate Vice
Chancellor, University Real Estate Operations at UNC, Sarah DeGennaro , Executive Director at The Alliance for Historic
Hillsborough
Call to Order
Chair Anthony Carey called the meeting to order at 8 : 09 am .
Introductions were given by all .
Host Welcome
Jeff Strickler, DHA, RN , Vice President at UNC Hospitals welcomed the board to UNC Hospitals, Hillsborough Campus . He
explained that the hospital is .constantly balancing the science and the patient experience . He mentioned that we are
fortunate to be the home to two Nobel Prize winners with ties to the university and the hospital . They are forming more
public/private partnerships and relationships with other universities such as NCSU that improve patient care through
technology and are perfecting Cancer treatments that are sparing more of the healthy cells so people don ' t experience
the side effects they may have several years ago . UNC Health Care at Hillsborough is now an 83 bed facility with their
numbers creeping up a little bit more each year . Their 10 room emergency department is seeing 24, 000 patients a year;
they have 8 operating rooms, as they were built to be a specialty surgical hospital and are completely the site of UNC' s
joint replacement surgery, elective spinal surgery, ophthalmology surgery and non -cancer Ob-Gyn surgery . They have
added pulmonary services and drug loading services as well as geriatric medicine . They have been open three years and
average about 50% full capacity . A workforce engagement study showed they have received an 85 % favorable
employee rating with another poll showing they are better than 95 % of hospitals across the county in patient
satisfaction . They are currently building a linear accelerator, which increases and focuses a beam of radiation that will
be used in outpatient oncology treatment and are doubling the size of their infusion center to deliver chemotherapy .
They have received state approval to move ahead with the next phase of development which will be a second bed tower
adding 50 beds and accommodating the rehabilitation hospital in Hillsborough . Rehab patients are at the hospital for a
longer periods of time and Hillsborough offers them better accessibility and parking . They hope to break ground on this
project within the next year with construction taking two years, from an economic development stand point this is a 75
million dollar project . They have just received notice that they are now a certified geriatric emergency department
which aligns well with the geriatric programs already housed at this location . This means that they have special training,
equipment and procedures focus just on the geriatric patient and are the only hospital in NC to possess this designation
and one of only 20 in the U . S . The main hospital in Chapel Hill will add a peri -operative ( everything that has to do with
having surgery ) hospital which will be a $ 290 million project including 24 operating rooms and 56 ICU beds with two of
the sky bridges being replaces . This is a three year project .
Approval of Minutes
Chair Carey requested a motion to approve the September 12, 2018 minutes . Mark Bell so moved and Tim Hoke
seconded . With all members in favor, the minutes were approved as submitted .
Guest Speaker Report
Anna Wu and Gordon Merklein of UNC attended the board meeting in order to present the University' s most recent
master plan , which is their guide for physical planning on the main campus at UNC-CH and a blueprint for Next . The
most recent past plan was formulated in the late 90' s and has carried to university through the present and guided them
through the implementation of nearly 6 million square feet of development . The planning process used the strategic
framework to lead it . The two pillars that came out of the strategic framework were : of the public and for the public;
innovation made fundamental . Through these processes they formulated three big ideas including transportation, open
space and development of infrastructure to use as lenses that they will look through and each project, large or small, to
advance at least one of those themes . At present thirty percent, or 6 . 4 million square feet, of the buildings on campus
are in poor to severe condition and this is something all UNC system institutions are struggling with . They will continue
to focus on the main campus as the heart of the University . Some buildings are slated for demolition , including Odom
Village and Berryhill Hall , the latter will be replaced with a new medical education building . Arts Everywhere has been a
tremendous ambassador for the arts and has challenged the planners to make it more visible and encourages the
campus to engage with the arts . They plan to improve and amplify the welcome to campus which includes the
improvements to Porthole Alley and the relocation of the university' s Visitor Center to Franklin St . Transit in the form of
light rail is coming and will build four stations on campus and these will be places that there is direct interface with
visitors and will improve the campus' east/west and north/south connection . The Hub Concept is the colocation of
different types of disciplines on campus to spur innovation . This concept makes it possible to use a building for uses that
make it welcoming to all and as an example a maker space ( combination of home economics and shop ) was recently
added to the first floor of Carmichael Dormitory . The University is buying buildings on the south side of Franklin St . so
that they can control what tenants go in those buildings in order to keep that space attractive on the campus side, which
is the businesses backdoor. They now own 118, 122 and 128 E . Franklin St . This includes two restaurants and the
Franklin Center. The largest hub will be located in south campus where Odom Village is now located will have research
buildings as well as private/ public partnership buildings with housing . These buildings can house mature startups . This
area will also be home to a new campus recreation center. As they look to their outlying pieces of land they realize
there is still capacity on the main campus . Proximity is critical to a successful innovation district . As they look ahead 10-
15 years they see the majority of growth happening on the main campus . They will also focus on renovating undergrad
bed spaces to make what they already have more appealing to students .
Finance Report
In the absence of Finance Chair, Penny Rich , Laurie Paolicelli reported that the budget is mostly uneventful and that the
occupancy tax collections continue to trend upward . Revenues are stable and our ad agency FleishmanHillard continues
to be our greatest expense and we continue to monitor our expenditures with a marketing committee meeting on
November 1 to evaluate their performance to date . Marlene is traveling to tradeshows which is producing a bump in
group spending .
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Executive Director' s Report
Laurie Paolicelli shared that she is excited about the opening of the UNC Visitor' s Center on Franklin St . and hopes they
will provide some space to illustrate the four ways to enjoy the County : Carrboro, Hillsborough , Chapel Hill and the
surrounding rural countryside . She thinks the connectedness will be helpful to families staying in the county because of
a hospital stay and getting out seeing the area . We will be utilizing digital influencers that have at least a quarter million
followers over the next 6 weeks . These are family, LGBT, food , bicycling and walking bloggers . The printed Visitors
Guide is in production . Marlene is working on Sunday-Thursday visits and hospital patient family services .
New Business/ Roundtable
Chair Carey acknowledged all for updates in their respective fields :
• Mark Bell reported that Hillsborough has undergone an extensive side walk and downtown revitalization . The
Historic District Commission will hold a special meeting just to hear about renovation plans for the Colonial Inn .
The town board has given approval for the zoning request and to parts of the special use permit . He assumes a
November approval with ground breaking in December or January . Hillsborough has several holiday plans in the
works .
• Travis Myren shared that Orange County Economic Development will hold an Economic Summit this afternoon
on WCHL Radio to showcase some of the exciting things going on in the county . The summit will be made up of
a series of panels highlighting new business recruitment, tourism , the Ag economy and vocational education
provided by Durham Tech in Orange County .
• Sarah DeGennaro shared that Hillsborough has been working on branding and consistency as well as new photo
stock . They are pushing their advertising into Greensboro, Winston -Salem and High Point as well as Danville and
southern Virginia .
• Lydia Lavelle spoke about the Carrboro Poetry Festival that is starting on October 17 . Annette Stone shared that
their poet laurite is Drew Phillips . She thanked Laurie Paolicelli for bringing to the meeting the Our State
Magazine issue that features Main St. Carrboro .
• Tim Hoke reported that the Plein Air artwork will be shown at the C3 co -working space in Hillsborough with the
paintings priced very affordably . The River Park Concert is happening on October 27 .
• Elinor Landess reported that the downtown partnership is gearing up for a new director whose start date should
be in January 2019 . Their board has recently identified some goals for a unified vision : rebranding to find a
brand that locals and visitors can get behind and advocating for funding and finding new streams of funding .
The 2nd Friday Art Walk will get a facelift and they have awarded grants to local business for fagade
improvements .
• Andrew Strickland of the AC Hotel reported that they had a slow summer but that the fall was very busy . People
are still coming to football games despite the losing season .
• Anthony Carey shared that the nominating committee is working on making sure all are represented on the
Visitors Bureau Board . Marking Committee looking at some next steps with our ad agency .
Next Meeting : Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at UNC Health Care Chapel Hill, The Hedrick Bldg., 211 Friday
Center Dr., Chapel Hill 27517.
Meeting Adjourned at 9 : 42 am .
3 Page CHOCVB BOD Meeting October 17 , 2018
Minut s reviewe y :
Laurie aolicelli, xecutive Director
Date __
Mihutes acce ted by :
Anthony Carey, YYChairman
Date
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