On behalf of Live Events Industry of Oregon, a state chapter of the Live Events Coalition, the undersigned wish to take a moment to familiarize you with our industry – an industry that touches and impacts nearly every Oregonian, though most may not even realize it. In addition to our well-known performance venues, most of our businesses and workers are the “behind the scenes’ professionals who make all live events “go.” We are the service providers that include special event venues, planners, designers, caterers, AV, Lighting, DJs, rentals, tents, floral, décor, staging, set builders, show organizers, ticketing, entertainers, security…and so much more. Our industry is comprised primarily of small businesses and sole-proprietors, which before COVID-19, employed nearly 12 million Americans across all 50 states, and served as a major economic engine for related industries such as travel and tourism, hospitality, food and beverage, transportation, and even specialized manufacturing.
Unfortunately, this letter comes at a very dark time for our industry, as we’ve been shuttered or severely restricted from operating since late March of 2020, due to COVID-19. While we are appreciative of Congress’s recent passage of both the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program, we need to be clear: It has not just been performance venues and event caterers that have been closed down. In fact, the group of industry businesses that will benefit from the recently passed SVOG and ARP programs account only for about 16% of our shuttered businesses in Oregon and across the nation. Meanwhile, most of the rest of our businesses and workers that support Live Performances–as well as other events industry markets such as Weddings and Celebrations, Corporate Events, Consumer and Trade Shows, Fairs and Festivals, Fundraisers and Political Events–are also suffering in the same way…but currently with no targeted support from Congress.
Although last December’s COVID relief legislation “PPP-2” has served as much-needed temporary respite for many events businesses, it unfortunately is not a panacea for all of our industry, because its timeline is shorter than what our “shuttered” status will ultimately be. Additionally, its qualification and forgiveness guidelines frequently don’t match our business’s operating realities, forcing many events businesses to forgo this second round of aid for fear of taking on even more debt…instead opting to sell their buildings or homes, and in many cases even to empty their retirement funds or other savings; just to wait out the storm for a few more months.
Please remember: Unlike a restaurant, gym, or personal service provider; businesses in our industry cannot simply hang an “open” sign over our front doors, once restrictions are lifted. It will take months, and in some cases even a year or more, before gatherings will take place again at any sort of break-even or profitable level, if at all. Events must be planned and produced, tickets sold, booth spaces booked, advertisements run, invitations sent, and so forth. And most importantly, our clients and their audiences or guests must feel fully confident that a gathering—of any size—will be safe. Until then, our industry will continue to limp, and many of our businesses will close for good, without additional assistance.
With the distributions soon to be appropriated to State and County governments from Congress’s ARP bill just recently passed, we respectfully request that some of those moneys be allocated in the form of grants to small businesses in Oregon’s Live Events Industry, and would like to start a conversation with your office about what such a grant program could look like.
A “Shuttered Business Recovery Grant” program would help to provide a financial bridge until our businesses and workers can reopen and normalize operations. Suggested terms may include that:
• Grant eligibility should be tied to a defined Q2 through Q4 2020 revenue loss threshold, to assist the entities that are hardest hit by COVID-19 closures.
• Grant amounts should be tied to a percentage of the entity’s past revenues from 2019.
• Oregon’s smallest businesses and sole proprietors should have the first opportunity to receive funding, followed by larger entities.
We were the first industry to close, and we’ll be the last to reopen. We’ve been shuttered throughout this pandemic in order to preserve Oregon lives. More than 78% of our workers have been furloughed, and 80% of our businesses have lost 60% or more of their revenues in 2020, through no fault of their own…and remain shuttered even today. We’re asking for necessary support to help prevent an entire industry from collapsing, as we wait for the end of this pandemic.
We look forward to working with you in order to help these much-needed State Grant Programs that will protect Oregon’s Events businesses, bring back jobs, and stimulate our state’s economy. Thank you for your service to our wonderful state, we welcome the opportunity to meet virtually with you to further discuss our much-needed relief proposal.
More information about Oregon’s Events Industry can be found in the addendum below. We can be reached for further discusion at dthomas@liveeventscoalition.org
ADDENDUM - Important Statistics regarding Oregon's Live Events Industry
OUR VERTICAL MARKETS
• Corporate Events (Meetings, Conferences, Product Launches, Media Activations, Trade Shows, Consumer Shows, Company Parties, etc.)
• Celebrations (Weddings, Mitzvahs, Anniversaries, etc.)
• Fundraising and Political Events (Galas, Auctions, Rallies, etc.)
• Fairs and Festivals
• Performances (Concerts, Theatre, Opera, Dance, etc.)
• Sporting Events (Team Sports, Marathons, Tournaments, Rodeos, Airshows, etc.)
KEY ECONOMIC EVENTS INDUSTRY METRICS
• Number of Fundraising Events produced every year in Oregon: Nearly 15,000
• Dollars spent on Events Industry Businesses by Fundraising Events every year in Oregon: $675 million
• Net proceeds raised for charities every year by Fundraising Events in Oregon: $3.5 billion
• Number of Weddings in Oregon in 2019: 28,598
• Average Wedding budget in Oregon in 2019: $25,100
• The Weddings Industry alone in Oregon is worth nearly $720 million.
• Estimated number of Corporate Events in Oregon in 2018: 24,100
• Estimated Attendance of Corporate Events in Oregon in 2018: 3.2 million
• Total spent on Corporate Events in Oregon in 2018: $4.12 billion
• Every dollar spent on a Corporate Event generates $1.60 for Oregon’s Economy.
• The Concert Tour Industry alone in Oregon is worth nearly $450 million.
• Arts and Cultural Events see over 10 million attendees every year, and inject over $325 million into Oregon’s economy, not including ticket sales.
• Oregon Shakespeare Festival employees over 600 people and injects $120 million into Oregon’s economy, drawing visitors from every state in the U.S.
• In Southern Oregon more broadly, over 75% of tourists to the area state that they came to attend an arts or cultural event. These events support the employment of nearly 3400 Oregonians in total.
• What a smaller Festival means to our economy: Sisters Folk Festival 2014 generated a $1.2 million influx for the City of Sisters.
• What a larger Festival means to our economy: Oregon Brewers Festival 2019 generated a $23.9 million influx for the City of Portland.
• What a Fair means to our economy: Oregon State Fair 2016 generated a $37.5 million influx for the State of Oregon.
• What a Concert Series means to our economy: The Britt Festival brings over 60,000 visitors to Jacksonville every summer, who spend over $10 million in this small town.
• What a Rodeo means to our economy: The Pendleton Roundup hosts 55,000 visitors in one week every year, with an economic impact of over $65 million for the city.
• Travel Portland alone booked 351 Conferences in 2019, creating a $146,621,182 economic impact for the City of Portland.
• Total earned by Oregon’s Events Businesses and Workers (prior to COVID-19): Over $8 billion.
• Total employed (prior to COVID-19): More than 35,000.
