Little Rock Marathon Means Moolah for Local Businesses
By: Marci Manley, KARK 4 News
Updated: March 3, 2012
"At some point, we're going to be seen and people are going to say, 'Hey let's go check that place out'," he said, checking over his shoulder as four diners walked through the dark wooden doors.
Don Dugan is expecting to see more patrons sitting at his tables from the Little Rock Marathon.
"How many?" he asks those filing inside. "It will be just a few minutes, we're moving some people out. Is that okay?"
"The only con, for us, is making sure we take care of all the customers coming in and that we don't step on our own toes with the influx of people," he said with a grin.
With around 10 to 20 thousand people flocking to downtown Little Rock this weekend for the race, he figures extra dough will be rolling into his register.
"There's no question about it. We're happy to have things go on down here throughout the city," he said.
But it is not just local businesses getting a bank from the bucks. As the race has grown, so have benefits for the city budget.
The financial footprint for the Little Rock/North Little Rock area in all from the runners when they're not on the race course is an estimated $4.3 million unloaded into the local economy.
"That's a huge impact at a time of year when there's not a whole lot going on," Little Rock Marathon Executive Director Gina Pharis says.
"All these people stay in Little Rock hotels. We're putting heads in beds. We're feeding everybody through our restaurants. They're filling up their gas tanks," she adds.
Even though owners like Dugan love to see the sales, that also means a substantial cut of the cash heads straight to city coffers through sales taxes.
"Sales are always a good thing for us. The more sales we do, obviously the more taxes we get to pay, " Dugan tells us. "We sell the food and drinks, then collect the sales tax to send to the city. It generates revenue for everybody involved."
So for an even this big, eleven thousand runners in all, how much public money does the city spend to actually put it on?
"Taxpayer money is zero. We raise all of our money through sponsorships, registrations and in-kind contributions for the race," Pharis boasts.
From registration fees alone for the marathon, half marathon, 10K, 5K, and Little Rockers races at least half a million dollars are generated. And a portion of that gets fed back into the Little Rock Parks and Rec Department.
"The race actually started out as a fundraiser for Parks and Rec. We've continued that tradition even as the race has grown," Pharis said. "The Parks and Rec budget isn't that big, so we make your parks better, your golf greens better, and keep the swing sets swinging. "
So, as runners head to the finish line on Sunday, Don Dugan and other business owners will also be racing for the gold, or at least the green.
Don Dugan is expecting to see more patrons sitting at his tables from the Little Rock Marathon.
"How many?" he asks those filing inside. "It will be just a few minutes, we're moving some people out. Is that okay?"
"The only con, for us, is making sure we take care of all the customers coming in and that we don't step on our own toes with the influx of people," he said with a grin.
With around 10 to 20 thousand people flocking to downtown Little Rock this weekend for the race, he figures extra dough will be rolling into his register.
"There's no question about it. We're happy to have things go on down here throughout the city," he said.
But it is not just local businesses getting a bank from the bucks. As the race has grown, so have benefits for the city budget.
The financial footprint for the Little Rock/North Little Rock area in all from the runners when they're not on the race course is an estimated $4.3 million unloaded into the local economy.
"That's a huge impact at a time of year when there's not a whole lot going on," Little Rock Marathon Executive Director Gina Pharis says.
"All these people stay in Little Rock hotels. We're putting heads in beds. We're feeding everybody through our restaurants. They're filling up their gas tanks," she adds.
Even though owners like Dugan love to see the sales, that also means a substantial cut of the cash heads straight to city coffers through sales taxes.
"Sales are always a good thing for us. The more sales we do, obviously the more taxes we get to pay, " Dugan tells us. "We sell the food and drinks, then collect the sales tax to send to the city. It generates revenue for everybody involved."
So for an even this big, eleven thousand runners in all, how much public money does the city spend to actually put it on?
"Taxpayer money is zero. We raise all of our money through sponsorships, registrations and in-kind contributions for the race," Pharis boasts.
From registration fees alone for the marathon, half marathon, 10K, 5K, and Little Rockers races at least half a million dollars are generated. And a portion of that gets fed back into the Little Rock Parks and Rec Department.
"The race actually started out as a fundraiser for Parks and Rec. We've continued that tradition even as the race has grown," Pharis said. "The Parks and Rec budget isn't that big, so we make your parks better, your golf greens better, and keep the swing sets swinging. "
So, as runners head to the finish line on Sunday, Don Dugan and other business owners will also be racing for the gold, or at least the green.
