TEACON 2011 Hosted At Government-Owned Convention Center

TEACON 2011 organizers raved about the Schaumburg Convention Center as a well-run, state-of-the-art facility that compares favorably to similar venues in the Chicago area.

The facility also is an example of a partnership between government and private business to stimulate economic activity.

The $240 million center was built in 2006 and is wholly owned by the village of Schaumburg. The village has an agreement with Marriott which runs the center and handles day-to-day operations.

"It's centrally located, we needed rooms for breakout sessions, it's state-of-the-art. It really met all of our needs," said Jeff Reisman, general manager of 560 AM WIND, one of the organizers of the event.

TEACON 2011 was the Tea Party's Midwest convention. Organizers said about 640 attended. Among the organizations involved in the event were the Illinois Tea Party and the Chicago Tea Party Patriots.

The Tea Party has been critical of government spending and has advocated a smaller role for government.

Schaumburg Village Manager Ken Fritz said revenue from the center pays for its operations and contributes to a yearly debt payment of about $12 million. However, Fritz said most of the debt payment comes from a hotel tax, amusement tax and food and beverage tax.

Fritz said those tax streams were selected in part because the convention center brings people to the area who use hotel rooms, eat at Schaumburg restaurants and attend events.

"It's clearly generating economic activity," Fritz said. "It's doing what it's supposed to do."