Business in Vancouver’s “How I did it” feature asks business leaders to explain in their own words how they achieved a business goal in the face of significant entrepreneurial challenges. In this week’s issue, Andy Dunn, team president of Vancouver’s single-A baseball club, talks about how he cleaned up one of the city’s most beloved sports venues, increased revenue and kept the fans happy.
"Since the new ownership’s taken over with Jake [Kerr] and Jeff [Mooney], we’ve had five consecutive attendance records, we were named minor league baseball organization of the year – that’s out of 160 teams – we have won back-to-back Northwest League championships, and our business has grown on a yearly basis.
“The most important thing
we had to do when we took over the franchise was really just get the facility back up into a position where fans could come out and want to come out and spend time at the ball park. It was in a tough spot – it wasn’t the cleanest place I’d ever been. There were operational challenges galore in the building, lack of maintenance and things like this.
“This wasn’t my first job. I’ve been involved with a number of ballparks before I came here. I was involved with the revitalization of RFK stadium in Washington, D.C., and over the years and in the industry, you know what you want to look for.
“We put in new lights, we put in new playing surfaces, we put in a new video board, we put in electrical upgrades throughout the ballpark. We upgraded the food and beverage operations. We gave the ballpark a lot of love, cleaned it up, and the fans have responded because they love coming to the ballpark.
“We spend revenue and dollars to put back into the organization to give the fans and the community something we hope they’re proud of … and we’re always watching fan costs. We always want to make sure and never forget we are a family friendly entertainment value.
“We started an internship
program back in 2008 … What we’ve done is we’ve taken a bunch of local people, brought ’em in, and they’re excited
about baseball, excited about Vancouver, they love Nat Bailey Stadium, and that’s how we build our organization.
“Our game day staff is unbelievable. It’s probably the best I’ve ever seen … We try to be over the top from a customer service standpoint, because I think that’s something that people really enjoy and they never forget.
“It is one of the iconic facilities and buildings in this great town. We have this great history of baseball [in Vancouver], and everyone has great memories of this ballpark.
“There’s always more to do. I say that because until we’re sold out in preseason of every seat of every game, we’ve still got work to do.”
