Wells Fargo leads ‘good collection’ of Founders Day sponsors

As Maricopa grows so does Founders Day. The 4th annual celebration is slated to kick off this afternoon at 2 p.m. at Pacana Park.

The celebration would not be possible if not for the many people involved in putting the event together. Often no more important to an event this size is the sponsors. A number of them are participating again this year.

“We have generated a good collection of sponsors for the 4th Annual Founders Day Presented by Wells Fargo,” Marty McDonald, director of Parks, Recreation and Libraries said. “Wells Fargo has partnered with the city on this event for three consecutive years. In total, they’ve committed $30,000 in hard money towards this significant event. Their involvement and financial commitment to the event allows us to keep the event free, bring in quality entertainment and offer fun give-away prizes and a whole lot more.”

As McDonald sees it, often in government, you’re supposed to ‘do more with less.’ Mc Donald, though, doesn’t agree with that.

“As a government, we should do more with more,” McDonald said. “Our ability to leverage partnerships, sponsorships and raise revenue through our Vendor Village will allow us to recover 90 percent of the true event costs. The balance of the event is funded through budgeted dollars from the general fund. Without great sponsorship support, we would not be able to produce an event of this size and magnitude,” McDonald added.

McDonald noted that Harrah’s Ak-Chin Hotel and Casino has stepped up to the plate as well. “We’ve developed an outstanding corporate partnership with them and they are a significant contributor to Founders Day and the Salsa Festival,” McDonald said. “On top of their financial investment into the community, they are active participants in the event themselves, often giving away over $10,000 worth of Harrah’s branded merchandise at each event.”

McDonald also noted the commitments of Global Water, Orbitel Communications, Waste Management and inmaricopa.com as consistent event sponsors. “I’m honored that they continue to invest in our special events and we’ve formed great partnerships as a result,” McDonald said.

A number of new sponsors have been added this year that include Maricopa Chamber of Commerce, Lantis Fireworks, 1st Impressions Ink, Oracle Realty and Arizona Solar Window Graphics. “We hope this is the beginning of a wonderful relationship with those companies,” McDonald said. “We feel honored that they believe in the value of what we do to make a financial investment in Founders Day.”

According to McDonald, sponsors are actually down this year but that was by design.

“We wanted to tap into established relationships and partnerships for this event in terms of gathering sponsorship revenue,” McDonald commented. “We have produced the largest Vendor Village in Maricopa for the last three years. We wanted to grow that segment of the event this year to record numbers and showcase the local options available to our residents. Large scale events like Founders Day allow local companies to market to thousands of Maricopa residents in one venue. The purpose of the Vendor Village was to create awareness about local businesses and the different options that do exist locally for our residents. We all need to shop local, buy local and stay local in terms of supporting small business. By doing so, it keeps tax dollars within the city and allows us to develop much needed facilities like a new library or bigger parks.”

There are 97 different vendors this year, breaking the previous record of 74.

“We have another dozen companies on the waiting list,” McDonald noted. “If we had a larger park for this event, we could do more with more. Our events have become critical out reach opportunities for local companies and service groups.”

McDonald said sponsorship opportunities are going to take a new direction under the PRL department’s new marketing program beginning next year.

Just what do sponsors get in return for their participation in the event? “Name recognition, heightened perception about the company, increased awareness and the ability to generate future business are just some of the benefits,” McDonald said. “As with anything in life, you get out of it what you put into it. In this case, the ‘it’ is making sure we deliver on our promise and to make sure they receive the proper recognition they deserve.”

The 4th Annual Founders Day will include helicopter rides (beginning at 2:10 p.m.), music by The Freddie Duran Plan (2:15 p.m.), a chili cook off (2:30 p.m.), community dance demonstrations (3:45 p.m.), the presentation of founding families (4:15 p.m.), and music by Anarbor (4:25 p.m.) and the Gin Blossoms (6 p.m.).

A Kidz Zone will also be held during the celebration. The first 1,000 people entering Founders Day will receive a “treasure bag” to embark upon the Vendor Village Scavenger Hunt.

File photos