Jul 15, 2009
VANOC board of directors’ meeting highlights major milestones in challenging economy
- Funding approval for venue finishing touches; venue program now complete
- Domestic sponsorship revenue target fully met
- Significant progress on major operational contracts
- Continued efforts required to deliver Games with a balanced budget
Vancouver, BC – With a growing number of milestones reached or within sight, and the continuing ramping up of Games-time readiness planning in an extremely challenging economy, the board of directors for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) met today in Vancouver for its fourth meeting of 2009.
The meeting included a management update and look ahead to the coming months from Chief Executive Officer John Furlong, as well as updates and discussions on standing agenda items such as ongoing financial management, Games-time planning and venue construction.
VANOC board chairman Jack Poole, who is recovering from recent surgery, participated in the meeting via Bell teleconferencing while Rusty Goepel was acting chairman.
“The continuing economic challenges call for innovative and creative solutions to maintain a balanced budget as we continue to navigate through the toughest stage yet in Games preparations.” said Goepel. “While the signing of a new domestic sponsor today means that our domestic sponsorship targets are fully met and our venues are complete, challenges still remain and we recognize that tough responsible decisions are still required on an ongoing basis. Following a lengthy discussion on the Games budget, the project’s complexity and the turbulent economy, we’ve directed management to continue to apply the same relentless efforts that yielded these successes to the significant revenue and expenditure programs that remain.”
“As we continue to work our way through a very difficult economic climate, we’ll need to find new and additional resources and solutions to overcome the challenges that lie ahead. We will continue to look for efficiencies and remain fully committed to achieving a balanced budget,” said Furlong. “We’re now in the most exciting and demanding chapter yet with our final planning coming to a close this summer and the inspiration of the Olympic Flame arriving in Victoria, BC, just three and a half months away. Our board continues to provide the valuable oversight and guidance that helps us navigate this phase.”
As VANOC enters the final stages of fine-tuning the world-class competition and non-competition venues in Vancouver and Whistler, the board of directors today approved a venue central contingency draw of $1.02 million. The venue contingency now stands at $310,000. The funds will cover a variety of completion work at the venues, including ongoing methane gas mitigation work at the Whistler Athlete Centre related to the site’s previous use as a landfill, additional snow-making enhancements and ski run-out grading at Cypress Mountain and homologation work at Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre. The venue construction program has been delivered on time and within its $580-million budget.
“With the completion of these final construction details, the venues will soon be handed over to our operations teams to complete a critical component of our preparation,” said Dan Doyle, VANOC’s executive vice-president of construction.
The next stage in preparing the venues for the Games is the complex task of making them Olympic competition-ready by installing such temporary items as additional seating, lighting, banners, cables, timing and scoring equipment, signage and scaffolding for camera positions. Athlete access to training during this phase will be accommodated whenever possible.
The Organizing Committee also reported it is finalizing numerous procurement and service contracts for accommodation in the Sea to Sky region, almost 100 kilometres of fencing for use in the Games region, snow management and food services. Information will be posted at www.vancouver2010.com once contracts are finalized.
The board also received the following updates:
•Venue Construction: The City of Vancouver provided an update to the Finance Committee on the positive progress being made on construction of the Olympic and Paralympic Village Vancouver. Both athlete villages, located in Vancouver and Whistler, are on schedule to be handed over to VANOC this fall. Townhomes are near completion in the Olympic and Paralympic Village Whistler.
The Trout Lake and Killarney training venues are complete and have received building occupancy permits. The rink boards at both arenas have been set up for international-sized ice and test sheets have been successfully installed. Additionally, the mechanical systems and ice plants have been tested and are fully fuctional.
•Contributing Province/Territory Program: Nunavut joined the program in July. VANOC is continuing negotiations and discussions with the remaining provinces and expects to make announcements in the near future.
•Ticketing: The second phase of Olympic ticket sales started on June 6 and more than 150,000 tickets have since sold in this phase. There is a limited inventory of preliminary ice hockey and curling tickets still available for sale. The next phase of ticket sales is slated for late fall.
•Sponsorship: With a new sponsor joining today, VANOC has fully achieved its domestic sponsorship revenue target.
•Workforce:More than 26,000 potential Games-times volunteers have been interviewed and the process for offering Games-time roles will be completed by the end of August.
•Sport: The International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee have approved key creative elements for the Victory Ceremonies. The ice hockey department is also finalizing plans for the final sport event: Hockey Canada Cup – Women’s Hockey at Canada Hockey Place from August 31 to September 6. Tickets are on sale at www.hockeycanada.ca.
•Official Languages: In June, the Organization Internationale de la Francophonie announced the observer or grand temoin of official languages at the 2010 Winter Games. Pascal Couchepin, a former president of Switzerland, will make his first visit to VANOC later this summer.
•Transportation: The acquisition of buses for the Olympic period is complete and VANOC is now finalizing bus acquisitions for the Paralympic period.
The next VANOC board meeting will be held on September 15, 2009.
VANOC Board of Directors Background
The VANOC board of directors is made up of 20 members nominated by: the Canadian Olympic Committee (seven); the Government of Canada (three); the Province of British Columbia (three); the City of Vancouver (two); the Resort Municipality of Whistler (two); the Canadian Paralympic Committee (one); a joint appointment by the Band Councils of the Lil'wat and Squamish Nations (one); and one member nominated by the other 19 members.
The board is scheduled to meet six times per year, and more often at the call of the chair as required. The meetings are generally held at the VANOC offices in Vancouver, although they are occasionally hosted by our Games partners in other locations. The board’s responsibility is to oversee the conduct of the business of VANOC as it works toward achieving its Mission: to touch the soul of the nation and inspire the world by creating and delivering an extraordinary Olympic and Paralympic experience with lasting legacies.
As part of its commitment to public transparency and accountability, the VANOC board of directors has made today’s agenda, discussion topics and decisions available to the public on www.vancouver2010.com, subject to conditions of confidentiality related to personal information and/or competitively sensitive or privileged information. VANOC is also committed to hosting media briefings following each board meeting with the board chairman, the CEO and other director(s) or members of the VANOC senior management team to elaborate further on matters.
About VANOC
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.
|
