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Conclusion: The Big Picture ... Community Benefit vs Revenue Generation <br />Weighing and balancing the need to generate revenue while providing community <br />benefit is no easy feat. However, long-term planning and the ability to ensure the <br />continuation of the Event Center as a community resource relies upon being able to <br />predictably create an accurate annual budget that adequately provides for staffing levels, <br />facility maintenance, and facility improvements. <br />How do you measure the importance of a facility that many people in the urban <br />community don't realize exists and/or don't understand how it is run/paid for/functions? <br />What is the loss to the urban community of Ellensburg if the Event Center no longer <br />functions? What is the loss to the rural community of Kittitas County if the Event Center <br />no longer functions? How many families are impacted? How do you measure community <br />benefit and the consequent loss of that benefit, and how does that impact budgeting and <br />being able to afford to operate the Event Center? <br />COMMUNITY BENEFIT: <br />FUNCTIONING EVENT CENTER, 4-H YOUTH <br />DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, ELLENSBURG RODEO, AND <br />KITTITAS COUNTY FAIR <br />We can determine the economic impact were the Event Center to close - there would be <br />a significant loss of funding going directly to the City of Ellensburg and direct spending to <br />businesses located within the City - but how do you measure the loss to community <br />cohesiveness/identity, and family/feelings of ownership of the Event Center by some <br />members of the community? <br />If 4-H involves 1 in every io children in the lower county, where does that engagement go <br />if the Event Center closes? We know that 4-H does not just impact the children, but their <br />321Page. <br />