Commissioners spent the longest portion of their June 23 meeting discussing a proposed pilot program to protect the margins of larger events in Fayetteville, a step staff said could stabilize and grow signature festivals and attract higher‑quality programming.

Interim CEO Jennifer Walker introduced the framework, which staff labeled a margin‑protection program in the draft materials. The proposal calls for an annual application process, a review committee, and a scoring rubric that rates event viability, economic and cultural impact, financial responsibility, organizer track record, access and inclusion, seasonality and a margin‑protection justification. "We do certainly want to highlight that we are prioritizing a few things when we consider events. One of them is that they occur during slower seasons," Walker said, adding staff recommended identifying specific blackout dates such as graduation and home football weekends.

Commissioner Sterling Hamilton walked commissioners through an example pro‑forma from a current event (an urban/arts festival) that staff uses to illustrate how margin protection might work. Hamilton said the example event projected roughly $56,000 in revenue and $46,000 in expenses, yielding about a $9,000 gross margin; he suggested the commission consider guaranteeing a percentage of gross (he described a 30–40% band as a starting point). "If we guarantee 15,000 [roughly 30% of that sample gross], and they come in and they earn 40,000, then we'll issue them a check for the difference up to the guarantee," Hamilton said, describing how a guarantee could prevent an otherwise viable event from folding after a bad year.

Commissioners asked questions about eligibility, caps and the source of funds. Staff said Experience Fayetteville currently operates a community incentive fund (historically about $160,000) and that relatively few grantees would be large enough to be good candidates for the margin‑protection pilot. Commissioners discussed whether to designate a portion of an existing fund (staff suggested $60,000 as an illustrative set‑aside) for the pilot and whether the commission should require all approved margin‑protection awards to come back to the full commission for payment authorization.

Commissioners and staff agreed the program should be piloted, with staff returning with a refined application, scoring rubric, suggested blackout dates and proposed budget allocation for the pilot at the July meeting. Commissioners also suggested adding clarity on underserved populations in the rubric, setting maximums for individual awards, and considering incentives for successful events to reapply for higher awards in later years. No formal vote to create the program or allocate funds was held on June 23.