Visit Saint Paul Names Award Winners at 2015 Annual Meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 2015

Contact:
Adam Johnson, Vice President of Marketing & Communications
P: 651.265.4904 | C: 651.226.5403 | ajohnson@visitsaintpaul.com

Lisa Huber, Marketing & Media Relations Manager
P: 651.265.4907 | C: 612.396.3864 | lhuber@visitsaintpaul.com

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Visit Saint Paul, the city’s official convention & visitors bureau, recognized five award winners for supporting tourism during the organization’s Annual Meeting on Tuesday, May 5, at CHS Field in Lowertown. They are: Metro Transit as Partner of the Year, Union Depot as Member of the Year, Hockey Day Minnesota as Event of the Year, SUPERVALU Sales 4 All Seasons as Meeting of the Year and Jim Ibister, Vice President of Facility Administration - Minnesota Wild and General Manager - Saint Paul RiverCentre as “Hometown Hero.”

“Every year, we are delighted to honor those who have made a significant impact on Saint Paul as a convention and tourist destination,” said Terry Mattson, President & CEO of Visit Saint Paul. “This year’s winners are a tremendous example of what this city can accomplish when we work together.”

Since it reopened in December 2012 as a beautiful multi-modal transportation hub in Lowertown, Union Depot has hosted nearly 200 events per year of various sizes. In February of 2014, it hosted the President of the United States for a speech on Minnesota’s commitment to transportation infrastructure. Visit Saint Paul has worked closely with Union Depot to provide a direct feed from our website to their digital kiosks and stock brochures at their information kiosk. Union Depot has been a premier partner with the Saint Paul Road Trip for the last three years and continues to be a strong supporter of all of our initiatives. Union Depot is the Visit Saint Paul 2014 Member of the Year.

In January of 2015, Saint Paul’s Holman Field became the first active airfield to host a high school hockey tournament in the country. Through partnership with the Minnesota Wild and Fox Sports North as well as financial and in-kind support from companies and organizations throughout the Twin Cities Metro area, Serving Our Troops organized a Hockey Day Minnesota event unlike any other. The impact was felt from Saint Paul to Kuwait. The total media impact for the 20 days surrounding the event generated 211 different articles or posts that reached an audience of almost 350 million unique viewers. Fans came from all over the state to watch four high school games, a Saint Paul Police vs Fire match and a full Sunday of scrimmages for youth teams. Hockey Day Minnesota is the 2014 Event of the Year.

On June 14, 2014, the long-awaited Green Line light rail connection between Minneapolis and Saint Paul opened. In the first six months, ridership nearly surpassed projections for the year 2030. Metro Transit has worked closely with Visit Saint Paul on unique partnerships to provide free rides to major events including Red Bull Crashed Ice, Saint Paul Winter Carnival and LuckyPalooza on West 7th for St. Patrick’s Day. Metro Transit provided 25,588 free rides for these three events. This partnership is a win-win as it introduces new people to public transit and provides safe rides for event attendees. Metro Transit is Visit Saint Paul’s 2014 Partner of the Year.

In August 2014, SUPERVALU held its Sales 4 All Seasons meeting in Saint Paul RiverCentre for the first time. 4500 attendees filled the convention center and utilized unique venues throughout the city. This first-year national event in Saint Paul had an estimated economic impact of more than $3.6 million dollars and we are thrilled to have them return this summer. SUPERVALU Sale 4 all Seasons is Visit Saint Paul’s 2014 Meeting of the Year.

Each year Visit Saint Paul recognizes a hometown hero for his or her efforts to bring a national convention to town or whose work will leave a lasting impact on Saint Paul.

Jim Ibister and his team are world leaders with their sustainability efforts resulting in the Saint Paul RiverCentre and Xcel Energy Center convention complex being the only complex in the world to be LEED, Green Globes and APEX/ASTM certified. Sustainability is a new way of life for the people who run the convention complex. Jim Ibister (and his sustainability team) is Visit Saint Paul’s 2015 Hometown Hero.

About Visit Saint Paul:

Visit Saint Paul, formerly the Saint Paul Convention & Visitors Authority, was founded in 1927 as the Saint Paul Convention and Visitors Bureau, making it one of the oldest destination marketing organizations in the United States. The mission of the organization is to generate economic growth for Saint Paul by effectively marketing the RiverCentre campus, Saint Paul and the region as a preferred convention and tourism destination. Visit Saint Paul oversees management of the Saint Paul RiverCentre Convention Center and Legendary Roy Wilkins Auditorium.