Author: Don Muret

Video: Digital Sessions With Mike Plutino

Consultant gives insight on venue food service post-virus Mike Plutino, founder and CEO of Food Service Matters, has more than 35 years of experience in food service and hospitality. He spent 12 years working in the hotel industry before joining Levy as a regional vice president. After a 13-year run with the Chicago-based concessionaire, Plutino formed his own company in Atlanta in 2013. His clients include the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, home of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, which is undergoing a $450 million renovation.

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Spectra Lays Off About 40

Subaru Park in Chester, Pa., shown during the Premier Lacrosse League championship game in September, is among the venues operated by Philadelphia-based Spectra. (Getty Images) At least four VPs let go amid COVID-19 industry shutdown Spectra, a provider of facility management services, has laid off about 40 employees, sources said. The action comes after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports and entertainment venues across North America and follows moves by other companies in the same areas of business. The cuts affect all divisions in which Spectra operates: building operations, food service, ticketing, marketing and business development. All told, they account for one-third of Spectra’s corporate structure, including Philadelphia headquarters and regional offices, sources said. At least four layoffs were vice presidents: Scott Swiger (culinary excellence), Jacque Holowaty (client experience and ticketing) and Dave Leibowitz (business development finance and strategy), plus regional VP Tim Murphy, who served as Spectra’s general manager… Continue Reading Spectra Lays Off About 40

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Independent Agencies Rebook and Hope

Blues artist Kenny Neal, shown playing the Neighborhood Theatre in Charlotte, N.C., in November, is booked by Intrepid Artists International. (Don Muret / Staff) Potentially crowded fall will ‘create a lot of pressure’ on business Rick Booth stays busy planting azaleas in Charlotte, N.C. Buck Williams hangs at his 60-acre spread, a Tennessee wildlife preserve full of deer and wild turkey. In the Bay Area, Tom Chauncey has improved his guitar playing skills. For all three heads of independent booking agencies now working from home, it’s part of the “new normal” as they come to grips with a touring industry paralyzed by COVID-19 and the uncertainty over when their acts can start working again. Much of their time is spent rebooking artists into the second half of the year after a few months of cancellations, but new dates remain on shaky ground as they wonder whether a second wave of… Continue Reading Independent Agencies Rebook and Hope

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‘Marquee Project’ On Deck in Wichita

DOWNTOWN DESTINATION: The 6,000-seat Riverfront Stadium sits beside the Arkansas River in Wichita, Kan. (Courtesy DLR Group) $75M Riverfront Stadium is new home of Triple-A Wind Surge The ribbon cutting is on hold for Riverfront Stadium in Wichita, Kan., because of the COVID-19 crisis, but when it finally opens, the minor league ballpark will signal a rebirth for sports in general and the city’s downtown redevelopment. The $75 million project is the home of the Wichita Wind Surge, the Miami Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate. The team relocated from New Orleans after last season. DLR Group designed the ballpark, and J.E. Dunn and Eby Construction built it. Riverfront Stadium was close to completion by mid-March, the point at which sports started to shut down because of the novel coronavirus.  From start to finish, officials laid out an aggressive 14-month design-build schedule, said Lou Schwechheimer, the team’s managing general partner.  The stadium stayed… Continue Reading ‘Marquee Project’ On Deck in Wichita

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