The City of Winkler is reaping the benefits of its new Advertising and Naming Rights Policy.
Last week, city officials and representatives from Rosenort Credit Union gathered at the Meridian Exhibition Centre to announce RCU has made a significant undisclosed financial contribution to secure the naming rights to several amenities in the community for the next five years.
The Winkler Aquatic Centre is being renamed the RCU Aquatic Centre, the concession stands at both the pool and exhibition centre will also bear the RCU name, as will the outdoor ice rink, football field, and the three soccer fields in Emerado Park.
RCU will also serve as the presenting sponsor for the Concerts in the Park series and the entertainment sponsor for Winkler’s Canada Day festivities.
“We are a proud business partner with the City of Winkler and deeply appreciate the chance to support the community’s growth and well-being,” Tyronne Wall, regional branch manager for Rosenort Credit Union, said in a statement.
Mayor Henry Siemens called this sponsorship “the first major win” under the city’s new sponsorship/marketing program, which was launched last fall in the hopes of creating a new source of funding for public facilities.
“It’s something that will make a significant financial difference to our community,” the mayor stressed. “Our hope is that we get to have many other announcements like this.”
Siemens noted the city did a comprehensive analysis of its asset inventory “to find out what may have some value to advertisers. What items we would be able to do in a respectful way to our community, but to be able to also help us enhance our services and our programs … [and] allow us to do more than we could without having to go back to our taxpayers and ask for more.
“We are a growing community, and there are a lot of people that come here that see the value in that.”
Siemens noted there are a lot of different options for businesses looking to be part of this program.
“We have many different availabilities in terms of financial support, in terms of size of sponsorship,” he said, explaining they range from recreational facility naming rights to park bench sponsorships.
The program has already seen a fair bit of interest, and Siemens said they will be moving forward thoughtfully with future partnerships.
“There’s an opportunity here and we want to explore it and see what that looks like.”
