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Description
On the latest episode of Chesterfield Behind the Mic, we talk to J.C. Poma about sports tourism and visitation in the county, it’s impact for the local economy, what that all looks like now and what steps he sees Chesterfield taking in the upcoming months and years ahead in order to bring even more people to the area.
Credits:
Director: Martin Stith
Executive Producer: Teresa Bonifas
Producer/Writer/Host: Brad Franklin
Director of Photography/Editor: Matt Boyce
Producer/Camera Operator: Martin Stith and Matt Neese
Graphics: Debbie Wrenn
Promotions and Media: J. Elias O’Neal, Elizabeth Hart, and Jackie Wilkens
Music:
Hip Hop This by Seven Pounds
Inspiring Electronic Rock by Alex Grohl
Guest:
J.C. Poma, Executive Director of Sports, Visitation, & Entertainment
Recorded in-house by Constituent and Media Services
Chesterfield.gov/podcast
Follow us on social media! On Facebook, like our page: Chesterfield Behind the Mic. On Twitter, you can find us at @ChesterfieldVa and on Instagram it’s @ChesterfieldVirginia. And you can also watch the podcast on WCCT TV Thursday through Sunday at 7 p.m. as well as on weekends at noon on Comcast Channel 98 and Verizon Channel 28.
A
A
Once
again,
one
of
the
fun
things
about
doing
the
show
is
sometimes
you
get
to
do
things
that
are
about
current
events
and
then
sometimes
you
get
to
talk
about
things
that
are
coming,
and
then
this
one
is
a
little
bit
of
both
we've
got
JC
Pullman,
who
is
the
executive
director
of
sports
visitation,
entertainment
on
to
talk
about
sports
tourism,
visitation,
bringing
people
to
Chesterfield
first
off
JC?
How
are
you
Brad.
A
A
One
I
think
we're
we're
gonna
we're
gonna
talk
about
a
lot
of
things
here
where
people-
maybe
they
think
they
know,
but
they
don't
maybe
have
a
good
like
real
grasp
on,
like
the
the
sort
of
vast
totality
of
it
right.
The
way
that
these
kinds
of
things
can
can
impact
the
community,
but
before
we
get
into
that
speaking
of
backgrounds.
Let's
talk
about
yours.
What
brought
you
to
Chester,
because
you've
only
been
here
I
feel
like
you've,
been
here
like
37
seconds.
At
this
point,
two.
A
B
Grew
up
here
in
the
region:
I
played
Sports
here
in
the
region
and
I
I've
seen
it
grow
right,
but
first
and
foremost,
what
brought
me
here
to
Chesterfield
County
was
our
leadership.
Yeah
we've
I've
worked
at
Richmond
region
tourism
for
the
last,
almost
seven
or
so
years
doing
sports,
bringing
events
here
to
the
county.
I
remember
when
sitting
outside
of
River
City
Sportsplex
back
in
2016.
B
A
A
A
Hand
right
now
in
terms
of
the
way
this
all
works
for
folks,
who
maybe
aren't
necessarily
as
sort
of
well-versed
in
this
you
might
not
know,
but
sure
ism
is
actually
a
fairly
big
business
now
granted
we're
not
like
Orlando
right.
We
don't
have
a
Disney,
though
we
are
getting
a
Lego
which
is
kind
of
fun,
so
I
don't
I
get
now
that
I
think
about
it.
A
Lego's
not
going
to
have
like
any
well
we'll
worry
about
that
down
the
road,
but
tourism
in
Chesterfield
is
actually
pretty
big
business,
there's
500
and
almost
540
million
dollars,
basically
in
visitor
spending
this
past
year,
up
from
I
think
480,
some
in
the
five
years
earlier
that
equals
out
to
essentially
five
cents
on
the
tax
rate.
So
that's
26.1
million
dollars,
you're
talking
nearly
6
000
jobs,
150
million
in
wages.
A
Essentially,
so
it's
already
a
thing
here
and
I
kind
of
want
to
talk
a
little
bit
about
sort
of
like
the
way
things
are
because
when
you
think
about
all
of
the
different
events
that
that
happen
in
Chesterfield
now,
a
lot
of
those
events
right
now
are
sports
related
right
tournaments.
That
kind
of
thing
I
think
there
were
like
250,
000,
attendees
River
City
by
itself
had
a
I
think
an
impact
of
almost
280
million
dollars.
Some
of
that
range
since
2018.
A
B
Of
things
it,
it's
been
great
right,
look
at
where
we
are
right
now
and
I.
We
keep
talking
about
the
potential
for
growth
and
we
have
so
much
potential
for
growth.
But
that
said
you
look
in
I
was
pulling
some
statistics
last
week,
I
think
we
were
the
eighth
largest
human
municipality
in
the
Commonwealth
in
terms
of
visitors,
spending
from
tourism.
A
A
B
You're
right
it
is
sports
tourism,
but
you
also
look
at
sports.
Tourism
is
the
gateway
to
the
county
right
in
in
one
way
right,
and
so
you
mentioned
252
000
people
that
came
to
River
City
Sportsplex
last
year
and
for
sports
tourism,
but
I
also
think
those
are
252
or
whatever
the
number
exactly
was
that
we
get
to
Market
to
right.
It's
a
very
specific
audience.
A
A
A
B
I
think
when
you're
looking
at
those
numbers,
the
535.9
million
dollars
in
visitor
spending
in
2021
and
that
data
lags
a
little
bit
so
we
should
be
getting
in
the
next
month
or
two
okay,
the
2022
data,
which
I
only
expect
to
go
up
right.
But
you
look
at
that
and
that's
impacting
our
County
businesses,
that's
people's
quality
of
life.
Those
are
people
who
wake
up
every
morning,
go
to
work
because
they
love
what
they
do
and
some
of
it's
small,
locally
owned.
A
B
So
trying
to
be
really
very
impactful,
very
targeted
in
who
we
Market
to
we're
gonna
we're
gonna,
do
all
of
these
different
things
in
the
tourism
World
Not
Just,
Sports,
tourism,
Leisure
Travel
as
I
call
it
right.
That's
the
biggest
element
of
travel
right,
but
Sports
tourism
is
the
biggest
driver
of
event,
travel
right
and
we
get
to.
A
B
A
A
A
A
I
think
it
was
on
the
on
the
tax
rate,
but
then,
when
you
think
about
the
way,
what
that
translates
to
for
people
who
own
their
own
businesses
and
and
I
know
for
a
lot
of
people.
Sports
is
not
necessarily
the
thing
it
is
maybe
for
you
and
for
me,
but
you
got
to
be
mindful
of
the
way
that
Sports
can
drive.
A
As
you
mentioned,
it
is
the
driver,
it
is
the
thing
that
will
bring
these
folks
here
and
so,
when
you
think
of
trips
by
day
trips
by
night,
where
are
they
coming
from
in
terms
of
like
you
said,
it
starts
with
residence
and
we
sort
of
build
that
out
in
terms
of
leisure
travel.
So
before
we
get
into
like
the,
how
of
it
all
I
want
to
start.
A
What
do
you
think
needs
to
happen
in
order
for
us
to
get
to
where
we
want
to
be
in
terms
of
really
kind
of
how
what's
the
best
way
to
say
it's
like
it's
harnessing,
essentially
what
we've
got
here
and
basically
taking
us
forward.
What
do
you
think
has
to
happen
in
order
for
us
to
get
to
where
we
want
to
be
well.
A
A
A
A
B
A
A
B
B
Right
that
helps
us
win
these
tournaments
right,
but
I
always
you
know,
I,
look
back
on
my
high
school
days
and
sports
days
and
I
was
going
all
over
the
country
at
my
dad's
bill
to
find
a
place
to
play
in
college
right.
You
know
it's
always
it's
those
few
and
far
between
athletes
that
you
see
on
social
media.
B
To
that
you
know,
get
all
the
attention
in
the
world
right,
but
when
you
have
these
tournaments
here,
our
athletes
are
getting
recruited
in
their
own
backyard.
Their
parents
aren't
spending
money
to
travel
all
across
the
country
right
they're,
staying
in
their
own
bed.
The
value
of
that
is
so
hard
to
describe,
but
there
is
a
value
yeah.
A
A
B
A
A
A
B
A
Yeah,
that's
great.
Now,
in
term
you
mentioned
customer
service,
that's
always
been
such
a
focal
point
for
this
entire
organization,
and
it's
it's.
You
know
and
I
know
that
this
sounds
like
you
know,
organization
speak
or
whatever,
but
like
it
really
does
start
from
Dr
Casey.
All
the
way
down
like
that
idea
of
the
First
Choice
community
and
the
idea
of
you
know
delivering
that
customer
service.
It
really
does
translate
so
well
to
this
entire
sort
of
genre.
So
to
speak.
A
You
know
when
you
come
to
think
about,
like
the
the
way
that
the
events
are
run,
the
way
that
the
not
only
the
way
that
they
come
together
right
in
terms
of
the
personal
relationships
within
the
way
that
they're
actually
run
in
your
opinion.
What
are
the
next
steps
like?
How
does
how
does
the
county
really
put
together?
What
it's
got
and
use
that
sort
of
momentum
to
take
it
where
it
wants
to
go
from
a
planning
and
development
standpoint?
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
A
B
We
move
forward
right,
Parks
and
Rec
first
class
here
right,
we're
looking
at
the
amenities
needed
on
site
to
attract
we're,
adding
four
more
fields
to
River
City,
to
put
us
even
in
a
new
territory
right,
but
to
to
really
think
about
that
future.
We
have
to
start
thinking
about
what
we're
missing
for
our
constituents.
First.
B
B
A
A
B
Corporations
is
at
our
core
right,
and
so
you
look
at
the
great
things
Henrico
county
is
doing,
and
you
know,
Henrico
and
Chesterfield
are
very
aligned
in
how
we're
looking
at
sports
tourism
right,
Dennis,
bickmore,
great
friend,
who's,
leading
the
same
charge
over
in
Henrico
County
right.
Well,
you
know
they're
building
right
now,
a
very
well-known
indoor
event,
space
primarily
focused
on
basketball
and
volleyball
right.
Does
that
serve
our
constituents
too?
Absolutely,
and
when
the
the
visitor,
Knows
No
Boundaries
right,
that's.
B
I
think
that's
a
really
important
thing
to
denote,
and
so
let's
say
it's
an
already
I
use
the
word
occupancy
80
full
occupancy
weekend
of
hotels.
They
host
a
basketball
tournament.
Well,
even
if
that
tournaments
hotels
are
not
in
Chesterfield
County
guess
what
it
does
it,
we
call
it
compression
right.
A
A
B
And
so
it's
you
know
when
they're
doing
something
great,
it's
benefiting
Chesterfield
and
when
River
City
is
hosting
something
it's
benefiting,
the
other
jurisdictions
in
our
region
and
so
again,
being
very
purposeful
and
how
we're
aligning
and
what
we're
looking
at.
But
it
comes
back
to
our
constituents.
If,
if
we
need
to
look
at
something
that
makes
our
athletes
better,
we
the
quality,
ath,
Sports
and
Athletics,
is
a
quality
of
life
piece.
A
Gonna
I'm
gonna
I
want
to
toss
in
this
follow-up
and
then
I
want
to
get
you
out
of
here
on
one
other
one
about
sort
of
what's
coming
up,
but
in
terms
of
the
the
big
picture
and
in
terms
of
where
the
county
wants
to
go,
do
you
get
the
sense
from
from
your
research
from
from
talking
to
all
of
the
different
folks,
you've
talked
to
and
again
I
know.
You've
been
here.
A
A
A
B
A
A
A
B
That's
great
so
again
we
have
these
asset,
we're
going
to
tell
our
story.
We're
going
to
work
with
your
department.
Tell
that
story,
because
it
benefits
that
everything
is
a
form
of
entertainment,
yep
and
it's
just
whether
it's
music
Sports
whatever
it
may
be,
we're
going
to
do
it
to
how
we
do
things
in
this
County
yeah.
A
A
Right
last
thing
we
were
recording
this
on
Thursday
July,
the
6th
it'll
go
live
on
Wednesday
July,
the
12th,
but
I'm
just
curious.
What
kind
of
things
are
coming
up?
River
City,
because
I
feel
like
every
time,
I
turn
around
there's
some
monster
event,
some
huge
thing
bringing.
However
many
people
what
you
got
going
on.
Oh.
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
Got
you,
then
you
know
that
goes
right
into
some
field
hockey
events
wow,
it
may
slow
down
right.
Now
you
get
to
the
fall
from
Labor
Day
weekend
to
the
third
week
in
decem
in
December.
We
don't
have
a
weekend
without
a
tournament
rental
wow
that
speaks
to
our
team.
Yeah,
not
me
I'm,
just
getting
here
our
partners,
our
team,
Parks
and
Rec
Richmond
region
tourism.
It's
an
asset.
A
B
A
Thanks
man,
all
right
make
sure
you
check
us
out
on
social
media
on
Twitter,
it's
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We'd
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A
As
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A
My
thanks
to
my
director,
Martin
stiff,
my
executive
producer,
Teresa
bonifas
and
all
the
good
folks
from
constituent.
Immediate
services
are
all
that
they
do.
My
thanks
to
you
for
joining
us
today,
so
from
all
of
us
here
in
Chesterfield,
thanks
again
for
making
us
part
of
your
day,
we'll
see
you
again
real
soon
take
good
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A
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