SOMI Summer Games a 'top tier event' for Mount Pleasant summer economy
For three days, 2,817 athletes and their families, 391 coaches and more than 2,000 volunteers came to Mount Pleasant for the Special Olympics Michigan 2016 Summer Games, pumping an estimated $1 million into the local economy.
According to a 2007 study conducted by members of Central Michigan University's economics department, those visiting the city during the summer games contributed $315,900 to the local economy. SOMI, located on CMU's campus, directly input another $682,887. The study is the most recent one conducted.
With the most athletes in 11 years attending the 2016 Summer Games, June 2-4, SOMI Senior Marketing and Communications Director Aaron Mills said the economic impact is still around $1 million, if not more.
Due to the complexity of calculating the economic impact of a single event, Chris Rowley, executive director of the Mount Pleasant Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the CVB does not have exact numbers to quantify the summer games' impact. Rowley said the CVB's job is to put "heads in beds" in Mount Pleasant's hotels — something the summer games does well.
"The Special Olympics is a great event," she said. "It fills all of the area hotel rooms, the restaurants, the stores, the gas stations. It has a huge economic impact on our community. Not all (events) have that same size impact. Special Olympics is one of our top tier events that Mount Pleasant has."
Rowley said other major events with large economic impacts are the Craft Beer Festival, Soaring Eagle Casino outdoor concerts, and sports tournaments.
Michelle Reed, a division manager for Labelle Management said the company's Mount Pleasant hotels — The Comfort Inn, The Fairfield Inn and The Super 8 — were sold out with SOMI participants, in addition to participants from other local events.
Reed said the company, a sponsor of the summer games, gave discounted rates to SOMI volunteers, coaches and board members. A volunteer dinner was held on Wednesday evening at The Comfort Inn.
The Big Boy restaurant on Mission Road had a "Welcome Special Olympics athletes and volunteers" message on its roadside sign over the weekend.
Ron St. Onge, Big Boy assistant manager, said he noticed a handful of SOMI participants in the restaurant during the games.
"We had a lot of volunteers who came in, wearing shirts that said 'Special Olympics,'" he said. "We saw people who had competed and had medals and were talking to other people here who had medals. It was like a nice social gathering for people working there and participating."
Mount Pleasant resident Bryson Church, a manager at Jimmy John's on Mission Road, said the sandwich shop's employees were busy serving volunteers, Special Olympics athletes and their families and others involved with the games.
"We got groups of individuals, families — people calling in from all over the city, (the summer games) make a difference in what we do for sure," he said. "As events are going on, (we'd be) delivering to different teams and groups."
Mills said SOMI's statewide budget for 2016 is $7,542,017. The organization budgeted $780,526 for the summer games in Mount Pleasant.
Here's a brief breakdown of SOMI's 2016 Summer Games budget:
- Meal costs for athletes and other delegation members staying on campus: $193,283
- Lodging for athletes and delegation members on campus: $151,046
- Expenses for rentals including bowling alleys, CMU University Events, golf carts, port-a-johns and stage, sound and lights for ceremonies: $40,295
- Event supplies including CMU custodial supplies, signs, banners, shirts for volunteers, staff members and games committee members, medical kits, etc: $25,364
- Printing expenses for program books, information packets and other items: $19,576
- Total expenses for medals, ribbons and other awards: $15,770
- Expenses for tent rentals, tables, chairs, etc.: $8,847
- Expenses for shuttle busses: $2,000
