I am the Owner and Manager of Hollister Soaring Center LLC also dba Bay Area Glider Rides. As a resident and business owner in Hollister it’s my opinion that the City Council should cancel the Hollister Airshow for 2013. I hold this opinion because I feel that the airshow has become economically damaging to both my business and the city’s depleted resources.
On a good, busy, three-day weekend, the glider business can bring in between $5,000-$7,000-plus. But for the last three years I have had to almost completely shut down my operations for the airshow so have lost an estimated $15,000-$21,000-plus of income. That’s money I NEED to survive. I’ve had a presence during the airshows with my employees manning a display and handing out hundreds of discount coupons. But giving out coupons for future use is no substitute for being able to operate and bring in real cash during that weekend.
I personally know many of the Hollister Airport Staff, AAC Members, volunteers, etc. I like them all. They’ve got their hearts in the right place and work very hard to pull off the show. But the airshow has become a juggernaut with a life of its own and no logical reason to continue. Most airshows are organized to benefit a charity or educational vision. The Hollister Airshow has no such goal or focused reason for being. The main people who benefit financially are the well-known, high$$ performers, none of whom (to my knowledge) are from the local area. (Skydive and local demonstration pilots are paid minimal fees; some volunteer). Out-of-town performers take the fee the Airport pays them away to their home area and again Hollister is spending money that leaves town. Not good.
Airport Management and the Airport Advisory Commission should look back at the original reason the airshow was organized in Hollister and realize they’ve strayed quite far from that concept. What began as a BBQ lunch and layover for pilots on their way to Watsonville’s Fly-In (and organized by a business owner here) has turned into a money-losing weekend for this city and my business. If I were to run Hollister Soaring Center the way the City of Hollister is financing the airshow, I’d go so far into debt that I’d need to close and declare bankruptcy.
As a pilot. Flight Instructor, and former Captain with over 5,000 hours of flight time myself, I enjoy a good airshow as much as the next aviation buff. Heck, I handed the City of Hollister $1,940 to bring in aerobatic glider performer Paul Jennings for the 2011 airshow when the City was down to its last $1,000 for performers. That was money out of my pocket and my business to help the airshow book a great performer. I’ve also been working to perfect a glider aerobatic performance that I was hoping to bring to the airshow at some point in the future. But as a business person, my #1 priority is to make sure money flows in to keep me going, and I can’t afford to lose $5,000-$7,000 again in 2013.
My business takes in approximately $300,000 a year, and a good portion of that goes back into the local economy. I’m currently looking at options for moving my business out of Hollister for the duration of a possible 2013 airshow. In fact, if I can find a location that’s more enthusiastic about prioritizing glider-related business income, I would definitely consider moving the sailplanes away from Hollister permanently. I think there might be many communities out there who’d be happy to have the glider operations nearby, as well as a portion of the $300,000 yearly income spent in their area.
There have now been two well-written opinion pieces from the Free Lance Editorial Staff (7/3 & 8/10) detailing how the City of Hollister should move beyond the airshow and mothball it as the money-losing venture it currently is. I can only hope, for the future of my business in Hollister, that the City Council takes notice and realizes that the Hollister Airshow was a great event for a couple years, but it should be cancelled now before it draws even more money from the City budget. And possibly impacts a struggling local business enough for it to vacate Hollister for greener $kies. Do we really want another empty storefront in Hollister?
Quest Richlife, owner and manager, Hollister Soaring Center
