New Berlin Tourism Commission ends trial with Wayne Gold, moves $10,000 into grant program

The New Berlin Tourism Commission voted on Nov. 19 to end a trial marketing relationship with vendor Wayne Gold and to amend the 2026 tourism budget, transferring $10,000 earmarked for the vendor into the commission’s grant program.

The commission’s chair (speaking as Chair) told members the pilot program had been fully implemented but “there wasn't sufficient community, business community support to justify continuing it.” The chair added that Wayne Gold had complied with contractual obligations: “They did nothing wrong, they've lived up to everything they said they'd do.”

Commission discussion focused on reallocating the funds rather than pursuing penalties. The chair said staff members including the city attorney and administrative staff had worked to implement the trial and that the commission would instead assign the $10,000 to competitive grants. The commission subsequently moved to amend the 2026 budget to increase grant funding from $45,000 to $55,000; the motion was seconded and passed.

The Chair said the change requires no further action against the vendor and framed the reallocation as a better use of limited tourism funds: the $10,000 would augment the grant pool for events expected to generate overnight stays. The commission did not identify any alleged contractual breaches by Wayne Gold and took no further enforcement action.

The commission directed staff to implement the budget amendment and to apply the additional funds according to the commission’s grant review process.

What’s next: staff will adjust the 2026 tourism budget and incorporate the $10,000 into the grant allocations approved during the same meeting; commissioners said they expect to revisit allocation methodology in January to refine hotel-night validation and distribution criteria.