Global Spectrum - Services

Advantages of Private Management Make Global Spectrum Number One Choice

Frank Russo, Global Spectrum's Senior Vice President of Sales, has seen many changes in the public assemebly facility management industry during his career. But the most important change has been the emergence of private management companies, like Global Spectrum, to apply successful business practices to a building's operations in order to maximize productivity.

Global Spectrum's clients include city and county governments, municipal authorities, universities and sports teams. "The scope of private management has expanded greatly since the industry first began in the late 1970's and early 1980's," said Russo, a former assistant to the city manager of Hartford, CT. "The industry initially limited itself to municipal facilities that were either underutilized or suffering from mismanagement.

"In recent years, universities and sports teams have turned to private management companies like Global Spectrum to provide the day-to-day management of their new convocation centers, arenas and athletic facilities. The private management contractor is simply an agent authorized to manage and promote a public assemebly resource."

In the case of governments, according to Russo, the conditions that prompt consideration of private management vary, but most share the following characteristics:

Bureaucratic controls over the budget that are contrary to free-market thinking.
Financial losses caused by local economic problems; intense competition from new facilities in the area; difficulties with managing a sales and marketing enterprise with rules that apply to governmental taxpayer services; customer and tenant dissatisfaction; physical deterioration of the plant and equipment; and onerous labor agreements.
The demand for more event activity, especially for facilities in secondary and tertiary markets.
The need for investment dollars for renovation, expansion, and/or equipment purchases.
The simple desire for a clean sweep and new beginning.
The need for experienced, professional direction for new facilities from planning, to grand opening to day-to-day operations.

Global Spectrum views its relationship with every client as a "partnership." Contrary to what many may believe, its clients still maintain all of the rights of ownership, including approval of operating and capital budgets, direction and supervision of policy, receiving regular financial and management reports, approval of the General Manager, material contracts, and the ability to terminate for cause.

Global Spectrum's core function is facility management. The company's headquarters, for example, are located at the highly successful Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The company's ability to identify, train, and promote personnel to new positions throughout its network of venues solves the concerns of public facilities about locating appropriately trained and experienced managers to assume responsibility for administering multimillion-dollar venue budgets, dealing with complicated personnel matters, directing national sales and promotional efforts, negotiating with labor unions, and booking a heavy and diversified schedule of events.

Private management companies can risk venture capital in the development or promotion of events and activities that might not otherwise be presented in facilities operated by government managers.

Private management offers government, universities and sports teams an effective and proven alternative to the operation of their own facilities. Private management ultimately offers owners the peace of mind that comes from having full-time professionals operating their facilities and achieving the objective for which these facilities were built to be: first-class showcases and valued community assets.

"One of the very positive results of Global Spectrum's private management, especially in the university realm, is that the skills and expertise of Global Spectrum's personnel have been extended to other areas, like marketing for the athletic departments and coordination of team ticketing operations," Russo said.

Private management has come a long way in the past quarter-century, and Global Spectrum has taken it to a new level of satisfaction for each of its partners at arenas, convocation centers, convention centers, ice rinks, expo centers, and stadiums.