Dan Rubino
Vice President, Operations |OVG360
With just about everyone feeling the pinch of inflation and rising costs — from the gas pump to the grocery store to plane tickets and hotel rooms — it’s no surprise that keeping costs in check is a priority during venue construction.
“One of the biggest challenges over the past year is pricing of facility equipment coming out of the pandemic,” said Dan Rubino, who describes his role at Oak View Group as consulting on new building design and equipment purchases.
Retiring in December, Rubino is credited with delivering substantial savings to a host of venue projects for Oak View Group, as well as helping to ensure its new venues would meet event requirements to operate both safely and efficiently.
“With factories having to restart their operations, there was an expected shortage of supplies, which raised prices,” Rubino said.
This presented an opportunity to combine product purchases under a single purchase order. “For example, the Tahoe Blue Event Center had to purchase dasher boards for the ice floor, as well as the ice floor cover, and fan protection nets. Rather than buying these separately, we packaged them together in a single purchase which reduced the price of each of the products.”
Rubino’s expertise was demonstrated on a host of OVG projects this year, including renovations at Budweiser Gardens, new arenas in Augusta, Georgia; Mobile, Alabama and at the new, 10,000-capacity Atrium Health Amphitheater in Macon, Georgia, which occupied most of his time this year.
“One of the major successes while working on that project was a digital signage program that I designed and planned, which is projected to have a return on investment in less than two years,” he said of the city-owned facility. “Once the investment is returned, there will be a major profit revenue stream for the venue for years to come.”
Looking forward, Rubino says he sees no reduction in demand for new, clean and sustainable venues, and he is proud to have played a part in developing many.
“My next chapter is coming soon with retirement,” he said. “I’ve heard it is unusual for someone to say that they truly enjoyed their work experience. I have been in the industry for over 35 years and have enjoyed every bit of it.” — Ryan Borba
