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The Mountain Home Advertising and Promotion (A&P) Commission may find itself examining its relationship with the local Chamber of Commerce. Established to promote tourism and advertise the city and its environs, the commission’s primary duty is to responsibly manage the tax dollars it collects from local hotels, motels, and short-term rentals.
Yet, questions remain about its funding practices—specifically its ongoing financial support of the Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce and its “general marketing expenses” year after year since 2018.
I grew up in a town not unlike Mountain Home: beautiful scenery, full of retirees and visitors. Tourist season was in the winter, and we called our visitors “snowbirds”. These snowbirds were wealthy Northerners from Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, etc, and would live in Florida for the winter months and visit the beautiful beaches that I called home for 30 years.
By the time I was 22 and working in the advertising industry, I found myself inside the offices of the Florida State Legislature, lobbying on behalf of the American Advertising Federation, of which I was a member.
Each year we would lobby to oppose taxes on advertising services and media and to protect funding for Visit Florida, the state’s big tourism bureau.
At times these lobbying efforts would directly go against my personal beliefs about the proper role of government, but I did it anyway to be a team player. I found that the tourism industry is highly subsidized with opportunities for advertising and marketing agencies to compete for contracts to be in charge of each local entity’s visitors bureau.
In many ways, Arkansas has mimicked Florida, and tourism is no exception. The dollars really do flow down to marketing firms, one of which I worked at. Here in Arkansas, the procurement process for the state’s advertising and marketing contracts was highly competitive, complete with a scoring process, negotiations, and legislative approval. Ultimately, CJRW of Little Rock was awarded a $26 million-a-year contract as the state’s marketing vendor. It’s big business.
The Chamber has been working with the Mountain Home A&P Commission since it was formed, but I could find no evidence of a contract as required by state law.
“…The Chamber of Commerce has a binding agreement for tourism-related services with the Mountain Home A&P Commission,” said Dani Pugsley, MH Chamber of Commerce CEO/President in an email to the Observer.
I don’t buy it.
Having been a municipal government contractor and consultant for many years, I have yet to see a government entity have a loose verbal “contract” or a quasi-contract via a form or meeting minutes.
Quite the opposite. The process is formalized to ensure fair and competitive bids that would benefit the entity needing services.
Without much transparency, a competitive bidding process, or a formal contract for actual services– ones that can be identified with a NAICS code–this financial support of the Chamber amounts to a subsidy, which is explicitly prohibited under state law.
I could find no evidence of any competitive bidding activities by the A&P commission, which has effectively chosen the Chamber as its advertising firm on record with little to no documentation.
Prior to this investigation, the relationship between the A&P Commission and the Chamber was obscured. It was news to me that the promotional videos of the area created by the Chamber’s marketing firm in 2021 were paid for by public funds.
I was present at the unveiling of these videos at the Chamber’s banquet. There was no mention of support from Mountain Home’s A&P Commission. Or if there was, it was so obscure that even I missed it.
A frown formed on my face after learning of this action because these videos and promotional materials were touted as exclusive use for Chamber members only. A clear conflict with the intended use of public funds. Things paid with public funds should not be exclusive, they should be inclusive.
The Chamber claims that they are not profiting off their tourism-related activities. If this is the case, then they should have no problem getting out of the way, minimizing their scope of work, and letting real destination marketing firms do the work they are brilliant at.
After all, prior to 2014, the Chamber was producing a relocation guide, getting leads, and advertising the area on their own dime as part of their regular duties just fine. It all fell squarely within its normal operating scope. Why the sudden need to have public funds pay for it? Because it is related to tourism?
What is stopping the Observer from going to the A&P commission, pointing out all the great articles we have written and promoted regionally about the area, and asking for public funding? We are promoting the area. We are promoting the city. We are promoting local businesses. Please give us $25,000 to continue writing and running ads on social media, Google search, and Google ads. We’ll throw in a couple of print ads in a magazine or newspaper, too. No?
What is the difference?
The purpose of this writing is not to dispute the claim that the Chamber does “good work”. Nor is it to tear down those who are in charge today. Rather, I see this as a distinct institutional problem and I ask the question: should the Chamber be the recipient of these tax dollars in the first place, and if not the Chamber then who or what? And can it be done even better?
This is an opportunity to do it right. It is an opportunity for Mountain Home to build a transparent and robust tourism strategy.
Many Arkansas communities use their A&P revenues to fund major events, build attractions, and launch marketing campaigns that drive tourism and boost local economies. The Mountain Home A&P budget is already small. Why make it even smaller by giving funds to the Chamber to perform tasks it otherwise would normally have done anyway?
One solution I’ve seen is to establish a dedicated Visitors Bureau to manage tourism-related activities. Harrison already does it. This bureau could oversee event planning, marketing campaigns, and visitor services, ensuring that all efforts are focused on attracting and retaining visitors. With the community center opening up soon, this is a perfect partnership waiting to happen with the City of Mountain Home that should be on the horizon.
Additionally, the commission should implement a transparent, competitive bidding process for advertising and marketing services. By inviting proposals from qualified agencies all over the state and beyond, the commission can ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and effectively.
Finally, the A&P should consider hiring a dedicated staff member to handle its responsibilities. Relying on the Chamber to act as a de facto tourism department creates conflicts of interest and limits accountability. A consultant or a contracted team could provide the expertise needed to execute a comprehensive tourism strategy.
At present, I can’t tell where the Mountain Home A&P Commission ends and the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce begins. Untangle these entities, and let’s not miss more opportunities for Mountain Home.
Let the Chamber stand on its own again, as it did before the tax.
