A strategic thinker all his life, Kevin Twohig, who is retiring from his role as CEO of Spokane, Wash., Public Facilities District (SPFD) by the end of the year, has a go-forth plan in place.
While the board is actively engaged in replacing Twohig, hopefully before the end of October, they are also transitioning his role so he can stay on to oversee completion of renovation of INB Performing Arts Center, which will probably mean fulltime work through the majority of 2018.
It’s a role that fits very much into his core strengths. “I do people, problems, projects and politics. That’s my life,” Twohig said.
His entire career has been in Spokane, starting with the 1974 World’s Fair, when he worked for Mike Kobluk, following him into management of the Opera House (now the INB PAC) and the old coliseum, which was replaced in 1995 by the new Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, a project that is all Twohig’s and was the foundation for formation of SPFD, which he heads.
Mike Kobluk, retired, recalls those early days. He first hired Twohig at Gonzaga University to help with a slide show. Twohig, ever entrepreneurial, was a student with his own sound company, Second Wind. “A year later I was running events at the World’s Fair and Kevin wanted to have Second Wind involved. We talked and I kind of hired him,” Kobluk said.
That began a 43-year career for Twohig. “We have facilities second to none in Spokane and a great deal of the responsibility for that goes to Kevin,” Kobluk said.
On this decision to retire, Twohig said, “I’ve been working in these facilities since 1974. I felt I have contributed as much as I can as CEO. I’ve got the district in a very comfortable spot where it can go on for many more years and be financially and programmatically successful. And I just felt I’d done enough of being the one who gets called at 2 a.m., who’s on call 24/7, 365.”
If he does anything more after 2018, it will probably be something to do with USA Volleyball. “Volleyball has always been my passion,” Twohig said.
Twohig played volleyball for 30 years, enjoying it as a release from the event business. “It completely changed my mindset, put me in a different place and dealt with the stress issues that go with this job. It’s always been the other outlet, my other interest.”
Accolades continue to roll in for Twohig, both from volleyball, where he is a Frier Award winner; from the Washington State Public Facilities Districts Association, which he helped found; and from the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), where he has been honored with the prestigious McElravy Award for his outstanding contributions to the industry and the association. He anticipates a lifelong commitment to all those associations. “If you’re a McElravy Award winner, you’ll always be involved,” he said.
PEOPLE
The people he works with, the guests that come in the front door and the clients that come in the back door, are the reasons he loves the event business. Whether it’s a concert, Broadway play or convention, “these things are fun; fun to do. There are always challenges.”
This past year, the challenge was conversion to metal detectors and a higher level of security, an exercise all venues are going through.
While he believes he handles all four core strengths well, Twohig will admit “the one I’ll miss the most is being here with the people every day because, essentially, I hired every one of them.”
In 2003, Twohig led the charge to transfer operation of the arena from the city of Spokane to the Spokane Public Facilities District, a new and autonomous municipal corporation.
“At that time, we went through the entire employee selection process,” he recalled. There was no automatic rehire. Every role was advertised publically and both in-house and out-of-house candidates were considered.
“What emerged was a phenomenal team, most of whom are still here,” Twohig said with pride. “That was one of my favorite things: to completely tear apart and reassemble a team who all had a similar understanding of our goals, objectives, mission and how we would operate. A lot of people had been with the city for a long time and could not get themselves into a private sector mentality. A private company isn’t as protective or as forgiving. We have high expectations for our empolyees, and every team we put in place is pretty darn good at executing the drill.”
Matt Gibson, who has risen to the role of GM of the Spokane Arena, is part of that team and in tune with Twohig’s management style. “Kevin has given me an enormous amount of latitude. Some things he handles personally, but for the most part when it comes to booking the event and getting the building a voice, he’s allowed me to build my team and run this building on the event side with a lot of autonomy. That speaks to his leadership ability. It’s a mentor position. He brings people along and makes you work for it.”
PROBLEMS
“A year ago, when we were putting in our metal detectors, we had a pretty significant challenge with the sheriff, who decided he didn’t have to comply with what everyone else did,” Twohig said. “We went through a fairly high profile discussion, re-crafting some of our policies, that has emerged successfully where people feel more comfortable being in our buildings than they did before.”
The issue in Spokane was not that different from other places in the country. The venues had had a no-weapons policy since the arena opened 22 years ago. But it wasn’t until the metal detectors were installed that they found out how many people were ignoring the ban. Among them were off-duty police and sheriff’s department officers.
The controversy “developed my relationship with the sheriff to a whole new level of respect and understanding,” Twohig said. “I understand where he’s coming from and I think he understands where I’m coming from. We allowed him to decide which off-duty sheriff’s officers should be allowed into the building with their weapons.
“Because of the political decision we made with the sheriff and police department, we now issue a permit to whomever they designate among off-duty staff.”
POLITICS
SPFD originated with the need to secure state funding through a district to build the arena in the early 1990’s. Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena became a reality because of the SPFD. In 2003, the district was asked to take on the convention center and performing arts center, which had continued to operate as city venues.
At that point, the state was making some money available to communities building or expanding convention centers, but the money was only available to districts, not to cities. The number of districts in the state was expanding rapidly.
It required an extensive negotiation with the city to make it possible for the district to take over. The arena was generating a steady operating profit and doing very well. The city’s performing arts center and convention center were both losing a lot of money and had tons of deferred maintenance.
“In that negotiation with the city, we had to make sure the district wouldn’t take on the financial burden because we knew we would want to expand the convention center and when you make a building losing money bigger, it generally loses more money,” Twohig said.
When the deal was done, it actually improved the district’s overall financial position. Having looked closely at the books for both buildings, Twohig knew the district would probably continue losing money at the convention center but could probably turn around the performing arts center and operate at a profit. “The city didn’t think we could and pretty much gave the district everything we asked for. For the first time, the district had control of the city’s lodging tax. There were very positive things about the political negotiations that came out well for the district,” Twohig said.
Most recently, Twohig, along with other district administrators in the state, was instrumental in extending the state sales tax rebate earmarked for PFD’s another 15 years. To accomplish that, Twohig helped organize the state’s PFD’s into a lobbying group and they lobbied to extend the rebate.
“In June 2017, that passed and the governor signed it, so we have another 15 years of state sales tax rebates to help cover the capital costs for these buildings,” Twohig said. “We could bond it today for $43 million. The performing arts center renovation will be funded out of that.”
CRYSTAL-BALL THINKING
Whether it’s Broadway shows, hockey games or concerts, the industry is not going to change that much in the next 10 years, Twohig predicted. “The demand is there. We have a steady clientele.”
But he foresees that sports will have to change a bit. Hockey, for example, has to find a way to capture the next generation. “They’ve already missed the millennials. The season ticketholders are all middle aged and older. They have to find a way to appeal to the next generation that has money, but is tied to their phones 24/7 and looking for a shared experience of some kind,” he said.
Venues will continue to evolve and provide more and more connectivity, more and more interaction with guests and performers, something that adds layers of dimension to the event. Twohig believes we have a whole generation coming along that will demand that experience.
But that will be for the next generation of leaders to determine in Spokane.
KEVIN’S CAREER-DEFINING PROJECT
Kevin Twohig’s role as owner representative when building the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, stands as his career highlight. “I had a lot to say about how the building operated, how many loading docks there would be, how many seats,” recalls Twohig, CEO, Spokane Public Facilities District.
Little things, like whether the admin staff for the arena or the hockey team would be in the arena — because there was only room for one — stand out. “We put the hockey team in the building so there would be an ownership and commitment to being in there and we wouldn’t be worried about losing our hockey team. And we bought an adjacent office building and connected it to the arena, so our folks have wonderful access,” Twohig said.
Early on, Twohig upgraded the arena’s load-in. “We put in the ability to load and unload eight trucks simultaneously and added a large marshalling area. Five trucks back right up to loading docks, three can drive in and you can get an entire semi inside the building and close the outside door and be loading almost immediately onto the back of the stage. We’ve been copied since, but we were the first to have that kind of access built in,” he remembered.
Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena is a single concourse building. “There was a lot of talk about a suite level, but I knew where our budget was and had a good idea what another level would cost. When you come into our building, you’re coming in on the main level. Stairs go up or down to seating. In a wheelchair, you will never see a stairway.”
The arena also boasts a super extensive rigging grid throughout the entire floor, so a show can rig easily and drop a chain motor down almost anywhere they need one. “We also put in elevator access onto the grid so someone going up to work on the grid isn’t all worn out from climbing stairs when they get there,” Twohig said.
Twohig takes pride in having built a venue that functions as well as possible for its clients. Twohig has a theatrical background, so he also worked to make the building very dark, so the focus of the guest is on the performance occurring.
You can hear in his voice, as he talks of that decades-old project (the new arena opened in 1995) that the upcoming renovation of INB Performing Arts Center, a project he will likely take on fulltime after retiring as CEO of the SPFD, is going to be his next best project ever.
“Kevin loves projects. He is a project guy and does a great job at it. That’s Kevin’s wheelhouse. Renovating the old Opera House, where Kevin’s career started, is a natural for him,” said Jack Lucas, TicketsWest and WestCoast Entertainment, who has worked with Twohig for decades.
If he had the arena project on his plate to do over again, he would double the size of the concourse and make sure there was more space outside of the concourse for full food courts. “I would upgrade areas where arenas are making money for their owners. We’re operating our buildings on popcorn, beer and parking, so I would make sure those features were well done,” Twohig said.
Mat Gibson, GM, Spokane Arena, noted that touring the arena with Twohig recently, he remarked that they left the plastic windows with the hole in the screen in the box office. “I said why? He said because it’s the box office. But why? It’s not like there’s gobs of cash in there. Kevin cocked his head and said you’ve got a point. He’s a traditionalist. He very much enjoys you still call them vomitories in the arena. And, on the other hand, he’s always looking forward to the next best thing. What will make the guest want to come back? He likes updating things and making them more relevant.”
That’s why they’re revamping the concourse level in the arena and making a very big food and beverage area that is more a hangout space than a concessions stand. And they’re adding Asian wraps and gas-fired pizza ovens.
“Kevin understands people are looking for the experience now. It’s not about the event anymore. It’s about what you do when you’re here,” Gibson said.
“He’s an expert and any time an organization loses that expert that you can always turn to, it’s a loss for all of us and we’ll miss him very much.”