MeadowView Task Force prepares to present to BMA

KINGSPORT — The MeadowView Task Force met for the seventh time Thursday night at Kingsport City Hall. Members narrowed down the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the facility. Task force members submitted their own comments over the past few months, which went toward the overall SWOT analysis for MeadowView discussed at the meeting. Task force facilitator Rick Toomey said comments from the past meetings were also taken into consideration when building out the statements included in the SWOT analysis. The analysis is part of what will be presented to the Kingsport Board of Mayor and Alderman later on. The drafted version of the document was discussed at great length throughout the two-hour meeting, determining the most concise wording for public understanding and to best represent the concerns of both the public and community stakeholders. "Anytime you give a report to the [Kingsport] Board of Mayor and Aldermen, you're going to have citizens look at that," Assistant City Manager Michael Borders said. "So we want to be able to ensure that you can have an average citizen pick up this document and there be enough context in it for them to understand what that document's saying." In the drafted version before task force member discussion, the SWOT analysis points for MeadowView were listed and perceived as the following: Strengths: High-quality, flexible, all-inclusive facility; unique local and regional amenities in a compelling setting; strong public and community support structure; strategic location and interstate accessibility. Weaknesses: Revenue mix and over-reliance on local corporations; perceptions of high-cost relative to service experience; transportation and location constraints limit group potential; declining event trends and underutilization of the executive conference center Opportunities: Rework the management and partnership agreements; increase sales and marketing focus for conference and convention center; create integrated packaging and partnerships; repurpose underutilized space into revenue-generating assets Threats: structural changes in business environment and meeting travel demand; competitive pressure from regional venues; persistent operating losses without a long-term solution; future capital expenditures. Each point was paired with one to four paragraphs further explaining the context or justification. Borders said marketing was one of the most frequently identified weaknesses for MeadowView, which also led to marking that as an opportunity in the future for the facility. It should be noted that the bulleted points do not reflect the changes made or discussed at Thursday's meeting, but future reporting will reflect those changes. May 14 is scheduled to be the eighth and final task force meeting. Members are expected to finalize MeadowView's mission statement along with any other recommendations from the group. Background The Kingsport Board of Mayor and Alderman approved the task force at a December 2025 meeting. At the first task force meeting held in January, Kingsport Mayor Paul Montgomery outlined the five key areas the task force has been asked to review: the historical and current use of the facility, its financial and operational performance, barriers to community access and local use, as well as the mission of the city-owned portion of MeadowView. MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort & Convention Center General Manager Ramona Jackson presented background information about the facility and its performance at the second meeting on Jan. 12. Lara Potter and Frank Lett of Visit Kingsport talked about their organization's role in marketing the facility at the same meeting. On March 12, the task force met and heard more about the convention center's finances. Borders, task force member Ken Maness and guest Lynn Shipley presented to the group. Later that month task force members and community partners discussed how organizations have used MeadowView facilities in the past, as well as current and future uses. During the April 2 meeting, Jackson presented a sales and marketing overview of the property to task force members. Others in the task force also continued to share comments about how their organizations have used the space in the past and plan to in the future. At the April 30 meeting, HVS Global Hospitality Services gave task force members a preliminary report about their analysis to be provided to the city on the facility. Topics like industry trends, market statistics, fieldwork observations and next steps were discussed. The city owns the 81,000-square-foot convention center and the Cattails Golf Course, while Eastman owns the 300-room hotel and Meadows Restaurant. Under a 2012 Qualified Management Agreement, Marriott International manages the entire property. The agreement is set to expire next year. Under the agreement, Marriott oversees day-to-day operations of the conference center, including staffing, marketing events, setting prices, maintaining the property and handling finances. The task force includes Larry Estepp, Brett Sago, Julie Bennett, Jessica Poore, Lafe Cook, Ken Maness, CeeGee McCord, Jaime Joaquin, Linda Calvert, Calvin Clifton and Wes Combs. Also sitting in on the meetings are City Manager Chris McCartt, Assistant City Manager Michael Borders, Deidre Lloyd of Eastman, Lara Potter and Frank Lett of Visit Kingsport.