In late July, the Pennsylvania Convention Center closed for a day due to labor disputes over exhibitors who want to hook up their own equipment (which would put labor employees out of a job). And a month later, according to the Inquirier, the center's board is preparing to "farm out management" of the Center City complex to Conshohocken-based SMG, which was selected over Comcast affiliate Global Spectrum. Board Chairman Greg Fox had hoped to install SMG by October 1, the paper says, but Gov. Tom Corbett's budget office responded to the draft proposal "with a fat file of questions" that reportedly include basic points about financial controls and how SMG will ensure competitive bidding, for example.
Spokesman Jay Pagni told the paper that the Corbett administration "obviously" wants to make this deal work, and Fox expects the state and board will make SMG official later in October. Meanwhile, the new management company is moving in, and has been meeting with the PCC's 79 remaining management staff (down from 100, thanks to unfilled vacancies) and preparing to offer many of them jobs.
The article notes that state and city officials and business and labor union representatives who oversee the Convention Center have not fixed the national problem of too many taxpayer-funded exhibit halls chasing too few big conventions, and that the board has not rewritten the local labor contracts that pit unions protecting workers' hours against exhibitors who want to set up their own booths. The center's contracts have been extended into next year.
Source: International Meeting Reviews
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