NC govwatch

← All meetings

Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Advisory Board

Orange County · Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau
Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Advisory board meeting Arts and public artBudget and appropriations

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What was decided

  1. Approved IIIApproval of Minutes Approved as submitted

Read from the agenda's recorded outcomes. Where the board published minutes, those are the record — this is a pointer to them.

What's on this agenda

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau's advisory board hears from Lewis Broadnax, president of Hillsborough-based Adam & Eve parent company PHE, Inc., on how the retailer is adapting its marketing to younger consumers. The board also considers appropriating money from its own fund balance to market this spring's Savannah Bananas games at Kenan Stadium. The agenda also includes a sales and campaign update from the bureau's media partner and routine community updates.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The board voted to have the Visitors Bureau present a marketing plan to the Board of County Commissioners and allocate up to $200,000 from its fund balance toward marketing the Savannah Bananas' two Kenan Stadium games next April, expected to draw 55,000 fans a day. The motion, made by Chair DR Bryan and seconded by Sally Greene, passed with all in favor. The board put the Bananas' economic impact in Charlotte at roughly $40 million, and Commissioner Greene said a request to the county commissioners would need to show a similar return.

The board also heard that the Orange County Arts Commission hired an event-support contractor after losing capacity to run its off-year arts festival, and approved its September 17 minutes as submitted. The minutes of this meeting are still marked for approval at the board's November 19 meeting.

How the votes went

The board voted unanimously, on a motion by Chair DR Bryan seconded by Sally Greene, to send the county commissioners a marketing plan and a request for up to $200,000 from the Visitors Bureau's fund balance for the Savannah Bananas games. It also approved its September 17 minutes as submitted, moved by Creston Woods and seconded by Wendy Smith.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (4)

Presentation · 1Budget action · 1Staff or committee report · 1Minutes approval · 1
  1. IV Guest Speaker: Lewis Broadnax, President of PHE, Inc.
    Presentation
    PHE, Inc.'s president discussed shifting consumer marketing toward younger buyers, media and tariff challenges, and the retailer's roughly two-thirds online, one-third in-store sales split across 115 franchise stores.
  2. V Executive Director's Update
    Budget action Budget and appropriations
    Update on the Savannah Bananas' two games at Kenan Stadium next April, expected to draw 55,000 attendees per day, and a proposal to fund marketing from the bureau's fund balance.
    Board voted to present a marketing plan to the Board of County Commissioners and allocate up to $200,000 from the Visitors Bureau fund balance for marketing the event; motion by Bryan, seconded by Greene, passed
  3. VII Community Updates
    Staff or committee report Arts and public art
    Update that the Orange County Arts Commission hired a contract event planner for support after losing capacity to run its off-year arts festival.
  4. III Approval of Minutes
    Minutes approval
    Approval of the September 17, 2025 minutes.
    Approved as submitted

Agenda changes

What moved between published versions of this agenda. Item numbers shift constantly as things are inserted, so only genuine additions and removals are listed.

Other recent meetings of this board