A sold-out crowd representing residents, businesses and community leaders gathered Thursday at the Tourism Leadership Council’s monthly luncheon to hear more about a proposal for a program described as a “game changer” for Savannah’s Historic District.
Michael Owens, TLC president and CEO, outlined a proposed community-led ambassador program dubbed Savannah Serves.
“It’s been years in the making, and so many from our community have contributed ideas and inspired the creation of this program,” Owens said.
The Savannah Serves mission, set out by city and community leaders, is to promote a clean and safe downtown as well as enhance the experience for residents, businesses and visitors.
In the proposal, Savannah Serves would be a public-private partnership formed to enhance the downtown experiences of visitors and residents.
The program would be made up of hosts, on foot and bicycle, who would help people with information and useful service and act as additional eyes and ears for public safety. Their service area would be in downtown Savannah where to-go cups are allowed.
Savannah Serves would deploy three teams
– approximately 100 paid employees — in the downtown area:
• The Red Team would be made up of 40 to 50 ambassadors serving in three shifts. They would disseminate information, provide assistance and hospitality and enhance visitor experience. They would be hand-picked to receive intensive training to be the eyes and ears for both the tourism office and Savannah-Chatham police department.
• The Green Team would consist of 15 staff members working two shifts. As city employees, they would be responsible for maintenance, development, planning of beautification elements and the content improvement of the area aesthetic. They also would have red team hospitality training.
• The Blue Team would include 30 off-duty police officers with flexible scheduling. They would be responsible for law enforcement and compliance. Their primary role would be visibility and crime prevention, and they would enhance, rather than replace, the officers already on the streets and would receive red team hospitality training.
To pay for the new employees, the proposal would add a 25-cent surcharge to any purchase of $5 or more made within the to-go cup service area and would be added after the sales tax has been charged.
“A quarter could make a huge difference for our downtown,” said Owens, adding that the city’s revenue department projects that 70 percent of the surcharge would be paid by tourists.
“A quarter per transaction means just that. You pay just 25 cents, whether you are buying a cookbook from one of our downtown restaurants or an Acura from Southern Motors. And for the downtown employee grabbing a soda and a bag of chips on break, it won’t even apply,” he said.
While Owens outlined the program, he was quick to say it’s not a TLC program.
“We can — and should — support this and work toward getting it implemented,” he said. “But this is a program by and for the community. It doesn’t happen if everyone isn’t on board.”
If approved by City Council, the next step would be to form a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a volunteer board of directors made up of community stakeholders and city representatives, he said.
The TLC isn’t the only city organization excited about the program.
“The Downtown Neighborhood Association is very enthusiastic about the new layer of security and beautification the Savannah Serves program brings to our Historic District,” said Amy Brock, the group’s communications chair.
“This is a tremendous step in the enrichment of our downtown for both residents and visitors,” she said.
Bill Hubbard, president and CEO of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, was impressed with the presentation.
“This program is very well-thought-out and inclusive,” Hubbard said. “Obviously the question is going to be the funding mechanism, but it sounds very fair.
“I was in Atlanta when they did this (in a downtown district), and it makes a remarkable difference.”
Ruel Joyner, president of the Savannah Downtown Business Association, called the program “a game changer for all of us.
“We are ready to do whatever it takes to get this program rolling.”
ON THE WEB
Learn more about Savannah Serves and join the discussion on the community-led initiative at www.SavannahServes.com.