City explains Winterfest funding model

How exactly is the Sundance Winter Festival paid for? Council Member Jana McLean raised this question at last week’s meeting on behalf of several residents who had approached her.

According to Clerk Treasurer Kathy Lenz, and fellow Sundance Main Street Committee member Andy Miller, there are three main sources for the event: financial sponsorship, in-kind sponsorship and gate revenue from the Sundance Beer Festival.

“The beer festival’s gate fees in addition to the sponsorships is what helps put the free, family-friendly winter festival on,” says Lenz.

“We work very hard to keep it free. BeerFest is a little different…but this one seems to cross all the borders and is part of the city’s economic development.”

Miller explains that, “The idea of the BeerFest event is that, not only is it a fun event to put on, but it typically operates at a profit level so that there is seed money available to fund WinterFest, should there be any shortages.”

The financial sponsorships this year came from a total of 46 sponsors and reached a total of $17,550, says Miller. Support for WinterFest has been strong since it was launched five years ago.

“The heart of the sponsorship has been very stable, but we do pick up some new ones each year,” he nods.

Nor is the sponsorship entirely coming from local sources. People and businesses from across Wyoming and over the border in South Dakota have all contributed to the popular event.

The in-kind sponsorship comes from the many volunteers who help with such things as plowing and sweeping, building and tearing down courses, hauling hay bales and providing ski ropes and inner tubes.

“Some of those were significant, to the tune of $1500 or more,” Miller says.

“People in the area are just amazing. It takes a heck of an effort and the thing that people don’t really see quite as much, unless you’re down here on the Sunday, is that there was a crew of folks working on cleaning up the streets and those guys on the machinery and trucks hauling the snow out were here from 8 a.m. to almost 7 p.m.”

The City of Sundance itself is among the in-kind donors, donating the cost of portapotties to the event as part of its policy to do so for all downtown events, such as Rally Wednesday.

“The council made a map of what areas in town they would sponsor with that. As long as it’s within that map of the downtown businesses, the city provides the portapotties,” Lenz says.

It also contributes the work to haul the stockpiled snow onto Main Street to build the ski joring course and bar stool ramp. This, says Lenz, costs a total of $1390, which includes the time spent by the Public Works Department employees and around $250 in gas.

“We have a line item budgeted for Main Street. It used to be, when we first started, that we didn’t have a line item and [Sundance State Bank] paid for the gas, but the gas is so minimal now to haul it to the streets and then the volunteers take it back off,” Lenz says.

For the city, Lenz explains, it’s all about the partnership. The city does not have a separate entity for economic development and, consequently, the task is split between three legs of the stool: the Chamber of Commerce, the Main Street Committee and the city, working together to push the city forward.

“The whole idea is that it’s an economic development measure that the city supports,” she says.

It’s also an investment for the city, she continues, because the amount the festival brings in for local businesses – during a month that seldom enjoys much else in the way of tourism – likely outweighs the cost to the city tenfold. That revenue, of course, then brings in sales tax to the city.

Despite the lower attendance rates, Lenz adds, “The motels were still full, the bars and restaurants were still packed. The goal was achieved to help those businesses.”

A few weeks after the last horse ran down the track, counting the beans has revealed that the Sundance Winter Festival lost money this year for the first time in its half-decade history.

“We lost about $400 this year – but we’ve never lost money before,” says Miller.

The loss occurred partly because less apparel was sold this year, Lenz says, probably due to the lower number of visitors caused by the weather.

Last year, Miller says, the festival ran in the positive, but this year it ran into the red by an estimated $400, though the figures have still to be officially confirmed. This may even out next year, he adds, because a decision was made to purchase the apparel sold at the event in bulk at a discount.

As the apparel does not state a specific year, it will be used again for next year’s festival.

“Next year, we probably won’t have to buy any more apparel,” he says.