Business View Magazine - June 2016 65
enue generator – but to reinforce their worth to their
members.”
Both Page and Davis are bullish on the GCCC, as well
the city of Columbus. “Both our city and our facility are
very navigable,” Davis says. “We’re 10 minutes from
the airport. The Central Ohio Transit Authority’s new
AirConnect shuttle to Port Columbus International Air-
port stops just outside the facility. We’re a very simple
city to drive into, and right outside our doors, we have
an arts district and an arena district. The 18,000-seat
Nationwide Arena is two blocks west of us. So events
like the NHL All-Star Weekend (which the city hosted in
2015) found the concentration of our facilities in such
close proximity to be of incredible value.”
“We sit here in the 16th largest city in the country,”
Page adds. “We’re within one-day’s drive and a one-
hour flight from 50 percent of the United States. In
2018, we’re going to be hosting the NCAA Women’s
Final Four basketball in Columbus. The games them-
selves won’t be played at the Convention Center, but
the Fan Festival, the coaches’ meetings, and things
of that nature will all be here. So, the people coming
through the Convention Center will be three, four, or
five times more than those who see the games them-
selves. We’ll have that additional foot traffic.”
Things are looking bright for the soon-to-be, newly ren-
ovated Greater Columbus Convention Center. General
Manager Page sums it up nicely: “Columbus is open
for business.”
PREFERRED VENDORS
Markey’s Rental & Staging
- Markey’s Rental & Stag-
ing is a comprehensive, audiovisual communications
company for event rental and staging, in-house sup-
port services for convention centers and hotels, on-
site corporate services, production services, computer
rental, video production, and basic equipment rental.
It began operations in 1959, as a 16 mm film rental
company established by Mrs. Martelle “Marty” Mar-
key. Since then, Markey’s Rental & Staging’s line of
business has evolved into a multi-service staging and
audiovisual rental company. Markey’s has branch of-
fices throughout the Midwest and in Central Florida
and can provide audiovisual services in any hotel, con-
vention center, or other meeting venue anywhere in
the United States. -
PepsiCo
-
