Each year, the city experiences a financial surge during the fall, when events such as the National Tractor Pull and Black Swamp Arts Festival take place.
“It’s kind of hard to say that downtown makes all of its money at one time during the year because we have a real diverse array of business events,” said Barbara Ruland, Executive Director of Downtown BG. “Each business holds its own events, and they all experience sweet spots throughout the year in different cycles.”
Bowling Green Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Wendy Stram said that during the year, the town does relatively well when it comes to its revenue.
“Nine months out of the year there are students spending money at the restaurants in town and Wal-Mart and Meijer,” Stram said. “There is also higher attendance at events that take place in the community while students are here during the school year such as Winter Fest, Back Swamp Arts Festival and the holiday parade.”
Stram said that some of the big events that the University doesn’t hold do not receive as great of a student turnout, such as the fair, the car show and the tractor pull.
“I’m not really sure if these events do not have as big of a student turnout because they take place during the summer, or if it is because the University isn’t the one putting on the event,” she said. “Although all these events still do really well for themselves.”
Tomm Smeltzer, IT and Communications Manager at the Chamber of Commerce, said the community re-invests in itself during the big shopping surge during the holidays.
“The holiday season always brings out a lot of consumers to the downtown area, but I would have to say the events leading up to those months are what make the city most profitable,” Smeltzer said. “There is a big jump in business once students come back to school for the fall. People are coming from miles around and stay in hotels, eat out and bring in that outside income that the city lacks in the summertime.”
Two summers ago the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure was in town, and about 1,000 people on bikes were in town for the night, which caused a big surge. Last summer the Family Motor Coach Association Convention, hosted by the University, was held here and brought in a lot of money, said Smeltzer.
“The Chamber of Commerce has the holiday parade on a Saturday during the holiday season, one of the largest in Northwest Ohio,” he said. “We are always publicized by Fox 36, and it gives our city a lot of attention.”
The town may do well between the months of August and December, but toward the end of the year and the summer, the town is mostly stagnant, said Smeltzer.
“Most noticeably the convenience stores and fast food restaurants near campus take the biggest hit during the summer,” he said. “The most I’ve heard of before was a 75% drop in business, which is pretty substantial.”
