Verizon Wireless Center Economic Impact

Economic impact totals
2012 Year to Date: $6,641,507
2011 Total: $40,500,000

In 1997, the City began calculating economic impact to communicate the positive financial value the civic center brings to the community. In 2011, the City worked with Explore Minnesota Tourism at the State of Minnesota to update its industry standard economic impact formula to reflect tourism trends. Economic stimulation generated by the civic center has increased steadily throughout the years to its current level of more than $40.5 million annually.

Attendance, spending, wages and expenses are all key factors in determining economic impact. A multiplier is applied to calculate the final dollar amount and total local economic effect. Calculating a monthly and annual economic impact is a useful measurement of the civic center’s value.

Why should taxpayers be interested in the economic impact even if they don’t attend civic center events?
The answer is simple. Everyone gets benefits from local assets even if they don’t use them because of their economic impact. For example—when a group chooses the Verizon Wireless Center for a meeting, typically people attend from out-of-town, pay for a hotel room, dine at local restaurants and spend money at area retail stores. All these businesses realized additional revenue because of opportunities created by the civic center.