City Council approves $150,000 loan to National Baseball Congress Foundation
The Wichita City Council unanimously agreed to let the National Baseball Congress Foundation “play ball” when it voted in favor of a $150,000 loan for the organization Tuesday.
The loan will serve as seed money for the new foundation.
“We’re not asking for a handout,” said Steve Schaad, board chair for the NBC Foundation. “We’re asking for a loan that we can use as start up money to get us going until the time that we can develop a positive cash flow by selling tickets, advertising, sky boxes, etc.”
“Without seed money, we’re not in a position to really do what (the council) tasked us to do, and that is to run the NBC tournament.”
City council members agreed.
“The reality is we need to support you in any way that we can,” said Council member Jeff Longwell.
The city officially transferred assets to the new foundation in May. Since it was formed, the foundation has assembled board of directors, which includes two city council members.
The $150,000 will go toward initial expenses, including hiring a tournament manager/general manager. The foundation will pay it back to the city over four years, interest free.
In September, the foundation said it was interested in hiring the current tournament director, Kevin Jenks, but didn’t have the money yet to pay him.
The memorandum includes a 10-year lease for Lawrence-Dumont Stadium for $1 a year.
Over the summer, the 80th annual NBC World Series was held at the stadium.
The foundation’s goals are to reverse the event’s dwindling attendance and income.
“The intent is for the tournament to become self-sustaining over time,” said Council member Janet Miller. “This initial loan and MOU makes sense at this particular time.”
“We need to remind ourselves that the goal is self sustainability and that the loan is a loan.”
“I’m very optimistic that this will be successful for the city,” added Council member Jeff Blubaugh.
Reach Kelsey Ryan at 316-269-6752 or kryan@wichitaeagle.com. Follow her on Twitter: @kelsey_ryan.
This story was originally published October 7, 2014 at 4:43 PM with the headline "City Council approves $150,000 loan to National Baseball Congress Foundation."