The vacant seat on the Eureka Springs City Advertising and Promotion Commission has suddenly drawn a flurry of interest.
After being vacant for several weeks with no applicants after former commissioner Bradley Tate-Greene resigned, the role now has a trio of candidates.
Tate-Greene, who stepped down to pursue new professional opportunities, has put his name back in the hat to return to the role, as has Damon Henke, a member of the city’s chamber board who has served on the CAPC in the past, and Ryan Knapp, who manages various local businesses.
Commissioners briefly discussed the three candidates at their monthly meeting Wednesday, May 28, and will vote on a new member at its next meeting scheduled for June 25.
“We had none and now we have three,” commission chair Steve Holifield said. “Usually what I like to do with these is that we take them, commissioners can call these folks, talk to them, vent them, see what you think of them. … I am surprised to see Mr. Bradley Tate-Greene’s application submitted.”
“Yeah, me too,” commissioner David Avanzino said.
“Is that good news, bad news, is his job still going OK?” Holifield responded.
Knapp and Henke were at the May 28 meeting and briefly told commissioners about their interest in joining the commission.
“I think my work ethic and my track record as a person here in town speaks for itself in a lot of ways,” Knapp said. “I manage five businesses downtown, four gift shops, and nightly lodging, and I’ve been in the tourist industry for 20–plus years, since I was a little kid, and I talk to hundreds of people, if not thousands of people, a month. I hear about the good and the bad about Eureka and I get a personal relationship with customers and locals and people all over town. I think I have expertise that could help the board here carry on the nature of what Eureka needs to be.”
Henke, who typically attends most, if not all, CAPC meetings and workshop, said he applied because of the need for the commission to fill the role.
“I put the application in because after last month’s meeting, it seemed like there was some reservations about who’s going to apply, are we going to have an open seat, whatever else,” Henke said. “And several of the commissioners had approached me at different times and said: ‘Hey, would you consider hopping on here and maybe giving some help? It seems like you might have a little experience at the table.’
“So, that’s why I went ahead and submitted my application. I appreciate the considerations. … I’ve worked with [CAPC director] Mike [Maloney] on the commission, Robert [Schmid] was a commissioner with me before, and of course most of you know me from just my experience with the town and how I’ve been interacting.
“I did get back on the chamber board — the chamber is trying to head a new direction here as they always are, but we will see if we can point them in the right direction, because the community is really reaching out for some networking and some new alignment in many areas and I think there’s still some opportunities at the CAPC that have been there for a long time that maybe I could interject and try to give a new direction.”
Commissioners said they would reach out to the candidates to prepare for a vote at the June meeting.
FINANCIAL REPORT
Finance director Ty Reed told commissioners that the CAPC had $1,726,000 in the bank.
“… In April actual revenue was $200,000, budget was $199,000,” Reed said. “Year to date is $493,000, budget is $492,000.
“… Total expenses for April was $240,000 with a budget of $269,000, and year to date is $837,000 with a budget of $948,000, with an equity infusion brings us to zero.”
TOURISM REPORT
The city was profiled by Little Rock television station KATV and its Good Morning Arkansas program on Friday, May 30, and will be featured on a Springfield station in upcoming weeks, Maloney told commissioners.
“[KATV] has been here for the past week or so, not only interviewing some of our people in town but … also interviewed people from Opera in the Ozarks. Those were pre-recorded segments.
“… These are opportunities for us to go ahead and cover the central Arkansas area pretty well and we’ll also move up north in the Springfield market as well.
“… Our viewership from the Springfield market is quite high, and these are two concentrated geographies with really several hundred thousand people would be affecting, so this is a good program for us to be moving into the summertime.”
Maloney said the CAPC was starting to get tax collections from Vrbo as of June 1 and recently collaborated with booking. com and would receive collections from that company “at some point.”
A new slate of officers was recently elected for the Northwest Arkansas Tourism Association and Maloney was elected as chair, he said.
“Very pleased to be in that position,” Maloney said, adding that Sandy Martin, chair of the city’s hospital commission, was elected as treasurer.
FUNDING REQUESTS
Taking up much of the two-plus hour meeting were presentations and discussions regarding five funding requests.
The Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow was approved for $5,000 for an inaugural event it hopes to become annual, “Jazz Age Jubilee,” to help celebrate the organization’s 25th anniversary.
The event will be held Aug. 3 at the Crescent Hotel and will include live music, hybrid auction, dancing, a raffle, and book signings by various authors.
The Krewe of Krazo was also approved for $5,000 for its annual Mardi Gras events, which will be held from Jan. 10, 2026, through Valentine’s Day weekend next year.
Gravity Feed, who handles the shuttle service for cyclists at Lake Leatherwood Park was approved for $1,500 of its requested $5,000 for a July event and the Nightmare in the Ozarks Film Festival, which will be held Oct. 22-25, was approved for $5,000 for the second year of the event.
