Board Wins GRCVB Award

The Wake County Board of Commissioners on Monday joined the Raleigh City Council as recipients of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau’s (GRCVB) most prestigious award. The two elected bodies received the Thad Eure Jr. Memorial Award for their partnership in moving forward on the project for a new convention center and headquarters hotel.

In a luncheon today at the current Raleigh Convention & Conference Center, the GRCVB honored Commissioners and Council members for working "exceptionally well to take the necessary steps to move aggressively to build a new and competitive convention center and headquarters hotel."

The award recognized the partnership for its progress over the past year to make the project a reality and saluted the two governmental entities for not allowing politics to get in the way of progress.

"Our Board has done a lot of work on this project, but we couldn’t do it without the quality work of our County manager and staff," said Commissioners’ Chair Kenn Gardner. "I certainly want to acknowledge and thank the Raleigh City Council, as well, for their willingness to partner with us."

The Eure Award is named for the late restaurateur, respected businessman and community leader. Kirk Watson, a former two-term mayor of Austin, Texas, and catalyst in the drive to expand Austin’s downtown convention center, delivered the keynote speech at the GRCVB’s 17th annual luncheon. He shared lessons about the significant economic benefits gained for the entire downtown Austin area and how the business community leveraged those opportunities.