By Daniel Lapham

The El Reno Convention and Visitor Bureau board approved an agreement between the bureau and the city that will provide the foundation for a new office, a clerk and a director.

Codie Finnigan, acting CVB director and Main Street director, said after the meeting the search for a bureau clerk could begin within two weeks.

“As the current director, I have the authority to go ahead and begin the search for a clerk,” Finnigan said. “We still need to approve the job descriptions, but that will probably be done through e-mail.”

City Manager Tony Rivera explained the proposed agreement.

“This agreement will allow for the city to provide the salary for a CVB director,” Rivera said. “The salary for a clerk will come from the 40 percent set aside from the lodging tax for tourism promotion.”

With the approval of the agreement, Rivera said the plans and description for a director will be presented to the City Council in November.

That should give Finnigan ample time to train a clerk to staff and set up an office so when a director is hired, they can hit the ground running.

Rivera had some suggestions as to where the CVB could set up its office, but made it clear it was the board’s decision, not his.

“One proposed idea is to develop an incubator building that would house several different types of businesses,” Rivera said. “This could be funded by the 60 percent of the lodging tax that has been set aside for ‘economic development and tourism capital projects.’”

This model could take some time to develop, so in the meantime, Rivera suggested the CVB could office next door to the El Reno Economic Development Partnership.

“The office next door to the Economic Development Partnership is empty,” he said. “We could sit there until we can move into a permanent facility.”