Lakeland announces new RP Funding Center director, Cindy Collins, as venue's profits rise
LAKELAND — The city announced Monday it has hired a new director for the RP Funding Center, starting the next chapter in the entertainment center's future.
Cindy Collins has taken over as director of RP Funding Center effective Monday, City Manager Shawn Sherrouse said. Collins most recently worked as a general manager with ASM Global, overseeing the Mountain Health Arena in Huntington, West Virginia. Collins has more 20 years experience in convention center and entertainment venue management, according to Sherrouse. She was selected in a process that included a group of community stakeholders who interviewed potential candidates, as well as one-on-one interviews with the city's management team.
"Almost two years ago, the City formally attempted to contract RP Funding Center management with a private management company but did not receive a single successful proposal," Sherrouse said. "Cindy Collins brings the best of both worlds, having managed multiple public venues as a general manager for the largest private venue and event management company in the world. I am very pleased that Cindy [Collins] has decided to relocate to Florida and to join our amazing City of Lakeland and RP Funding Center team.”
City officials began the process of seeking an independent contractor to run the municipal-owned entertainment complex in June 2022 after learning how much taxpayer money was subsidizing its daily operations.
In fiscal year 2021, the city's subsidy was about $4.8 million. The center's former director, Tony Camarillo, told city officials he implemented several efficiencies and cost-saving measures to bring the subsidy down to about $3 million. This included raising event rates by 5%, instead of the usual 3%.
Earlier this year, the Lakeland Magic's G-League basketball team and the indoor soccer Florida Tropics both cut their ties with the venue. Tropics CEO Dr. Panos Iakovidis said the city had attempted to double the team's rent for use of RP Funding Center.
Despite this, the venue's 2023 financials appear to be better than expected. Sherrouse said RP Funding Center needed less than $790,000 to subsidize its operations — less than half of what was anticipated. A financial audit is underway, but Sherrouse said unless something unexpected is found, about $905,000 will be put back into the city's general fund.
"The change in the business model appears to be working," Sherrouse said.
Mayor Bill Mutz has been an outspoken advocate for reducing the RP Funding Center's subsidy and making the nearly profitable as soon as possible.
"We have not had great success on team sports," Mutz said. "We are about a 2,000 max turnout for some of the games and things we thought might provide greater audience and it didn’t over time. It's not for having not tried."
Collins said based on her past experience it's "not unusual" for minor league sports teams to not be a profitable draw.
"Those are things for the community, they aren’t normally money makers unless it’s a very large team," she said.
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Collins did not offer an immediate plan or idea for the future of the entertainment complex, saying that it sounds like the venue needs to find its niche. She told commissioners she would come forward with a few ideas and proposals once she gets to know more about Lakeland.
"I don’t want to make changes without talking to staff, talking to you as a stakeholders and finding out what your vision is," she said. "Once I've had time I’ll be able to come to you with really good ideas."
Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: New RP Funding Center Director Cindy Collins takes over
