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Scott Cruickshank appointed Oregon Convention Center executive director

Today, Metro announced that Scott Cruickshank will serve as the new executive director of the Oregon Convention Center, marking the end of an exhaustive national search and extensive community stakeholder evaluation process.

Currently the general manager of the Grand Heritage Hotel Group, Cruickshank is responsible for the management of the Governor Hotel and Avalon Hotel and Spa in Portland, Oregon. He holds over thirty years of experience serving in various management positions throughout the tourism, meeting and hospitality industries in Oregon.

“Scott quickly emerged as a leading candidate throughout the selection process because of his vast management experience at renowned properties across the region,” said general manager of visitor venues Teri Dresler. “Combined with his expertise in convention sales and destination marketing, he is the top choice to lead the Oregon Convention Center now and into the future,” she added.

Cruickshank previously served as director of operations for Martin Hospitality, a management company overseeing popular properties in Cannon Beach, Oregon, including the Stephanie Inn, Surfsand Resort, Wayfarer Restaurant and Lounge, and The Lumberyard Rotisserie and Grill. Prior to that, he was general manager of The Resort at the Mountain in Welches, Oregon, and general manager of Stuart Anderson’s Restaurants in various locations.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications Management from the University of Portland and is certified by the American Hotel and Lodging Association. He has served on the Travel Portland Board of Directors and Clackamas County Tourism Development Council, chaired the Villages of Mt. Hood Tourism Marketing Alliance, Tri-County Lodging Association and Oregon Lodging Associations, and currently serves on the Mt. Hood Community College Advisory Council. In 2005 he was named Oregon Lodging Association’s Lodging Operator of the Year.

Cruickshank begins at the Oregon Convention Center on April 23.

The Oregon Convention Center is the largest convention center in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and is a leader in practicing sustainability in operations and business practices. It was designated LEED-EB (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – Existing Building) in 2004 and, in 2008, it was recertified LEED-EB Silver. Totaling one million square feet of space, it hosts an average of 650 events and over 700,000 visitors annually. The OCC is owned and operated by Metro and managed through Metro’s Exposition Recreation Commission. Visit www.oregoncc.org for more information.

OCC Executive Director Transition Update

You may have heard that Oregon Convention Center Executive Director Jeff Blosser will soon be leaving to run the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. I want to thank Jeff for his unwavering dedication and outstanding leadership of the Oregon Convention Center. He opened the center in 1990 and over a span of 22 years, inspired the OCC team to achieve excellence in customer service, business innovation and sustainability. The city, region and entire state has benefitted from the center's valuable role as economic driver, creator of jobs and valued community partner. I know you join me in wishing him well in his new endeavor.

Jeff leaves some big shoes to fill and we are currently working on a transition plan for the coming months. We are fortunate and I am thankful for the strong team of managers and talented staff at OCC, important factors in ensuring that we continue to provide the top notch customer service you have come to know and expect.

We will soon embark on a recruitment process to replace Jeff and it is my goal to have a new Executive Director in place by the end of the calendar year. I will be serving as Interim Executive Director upon Jeff's departure. My focus will be to work closely with Assistant Executive Director Karen Totaro and her team to manage the daily operations of the center. We will all work together to ensure a smooth transition. This new management structure will take effect after Jeff's last day on October 7, 2011.

I am excited at this opportunity and look forward to working with you to ensure that your upcoming event is a great success! Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Teri Dresler

Teri Dresler
General Manager, Metro Visitor Venues
Teri.Dresler@oregonmetro.gov
ph. 503.797.1790

Karen Totaro, CFE
Assistant Executive Director
Oregon Convention Center
KarenTotaro@oregoncc.org
ph. 503.731.7901

Oregon Convention Center 2009 Annual Report

"The Oregon Convention Center’s mission has always been to provide economic benefits to the local region above and beyond the community’s financial investment. I believe we have succeeded in this mission and have firmly established ourselves as Oregon’s premier meeting and events venue. This has been borne out year after year in economic impact reports that measure what our organization has delivered in terms of spending, job creation and taxes generated. Thanks to the businesses that have used our facility over the past twenty years, the Oregon Convention Center has created an average of 5,500 full time-equivalent jobs annually. Jobs have been created in hotels, restaurants, food and beverage suppliers, transportation, retail, security services and airlines, and event attendee spending has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy..."

» Download the Oregon Convention Center 2009 Annual Report

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Oregon Convention Center 2008 Annual Report

"The Oregon Convention Center produced record revenues and made major strides in leading the green meeting industry in 2008. In fiscal year 2007-08, OCC generated, through enterprise services, $16,862,000 in revenue with an economic impact of $441,512,000 for the tri-county region. Each year, the Oregon Convention Center supports roughly 4,800 jobs as a result of our conventions and meetings business,confirming year in and year out, the return on investment made by Oregonians twenty years ago..."

» Download the Oregon Convention Center 2008 Annual Report

» Get the Adobe Reader

"The Oregon Convention Center produced record revenues and made major strides in leading the green meeting industry in 2008. In fiscal year 2007-08, OCC generated, through enterprise services, $16,862,000 in revenue with an economic impact of $441,512,000 for the tri-county region. Each year, the Oregon Convention Center supports roughly 4,800 jobs as a result of our conventions and meetings business,confirming year in and year out, the return on investment made by Oregonians twenty years ago..."

» Download the Oregon Convention Center 2008 Annual Report

» Get the Adobe Reader