Live Events Industry Petition - May 1, 2021
Governor Greg Abbott
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick
State of Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan
The Honorable US Representative Beth Van Duyne
The Honorable US Representative Roger Williams
The Honorable Texas Senator John Cornyn
The Honorable Texas Senator Ted Cruz
Dear Governor Abbott and Members of the Legislature:
On behalf of Live Events Industry of Texas, a state chapter of the National Live Events Coalition, the
undersigned Texas Small Business Owners and Workers wish to take a moment to familiarize you with our industry – an industry that touches and impacts nearly every Texan, 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 Federal SVOG and ARP programs account only for about 16% of our industry’s shuttered businesses in Texas 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 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 businesses’ 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’
American Rescue Plan relief bill that was just recently passed, we respectfully request that some of those monies be allocated in the form of grants to small businesses in Texas’ Live Events Industry, and we 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 the following:
• 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.
• Texas’ 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 Texas 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 to help these much-needed State Grant Programs come to
fruition, to protect Texas’ events businesses, to 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 Texas’ Events Industry can be found in the addendum below. We can be reached for further discussion at hyacinth@texaslec.org or calling 214.676.5570. Our website is www.texaslec.org.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Please refer to the following page for important events industry
market and economic impact information.
ADDENDUM - Important Statistics regarding Texas' 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 Texas: Nearly 15,000
• Dollars spent on Events Industry Businesses by Fundraising Events every year in Texas: $675 million
• Net proceeds raised for charities every year by Fundraising Events in Texas: $3.5 billion
• Number of Weddings in Texas in 2019: 28,598
• Average Wedding budget in Texas in 2019: $25,100
• The Weddings Industry alone in Texas is worth nearly $720 million
• Estimated number of Corporate Events in Texas in 2018: 24,100
• Estimated Attendance of Corporate Events in Texas in 2018: 3.2 million
• Total spent on Corporate Events in Texas in 2018: $4.12 billion
• Every dollar spent on a Corporate Event generates $1.60 for Texas’ Economy
• The Concert Tour Industry alone in Texas is worth nearly $450 million
• Arts and Cultural Events see over 10 million attendees every year and inject over $325 million into Texas’ economy, not including ticket sales.
• Texas Shakespeare Festival employees more than 600 people and injects $120 million into Texas’ economy, drawing visitors from every state in the U.S.
• In Southern Texas more broadly, more than 75% of tourists to the area say they came to attend an arts or cultural event. These events support the employment of nearly 3400 Texans 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: SXSW generated a $23.9 million influx for the City of Austin.
• What a Fair means to our economy: The Texas State Fair 2016 generated a $37.5 million influx for the State of Texas.
• 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.
• Visit Austin alone booked 351 Conferences in 2019, creating a $146,621,182 economic impact for the City of Austin.
• Total annual earnings by Texas’ Events Businesses and Workers (prior to COVID-19): More than $63.5 billion.
• Total employed by Texas’ Events Businesses (prior to COVID-19): More than 1.3 Million.
• In 2019, $83.0 billion in travel spending resulted in a $169.8 billion economic impact to the Texas Economy (direct, indirect, and induced)
Source of data: https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2021/jan/pandemic.php
