January 9, 2006 - The Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (CCJW) is coming to the American Bank Center and it’s here to stay for the next three years. The American Bank Center/SMG, the City of Corpus Christi, and the Corpus Christi Convention & Visitors Bureau valued the importance of bringing the CCJW conference to the community and have worked closely throughout the past several months determined to reach an agreement. The spokesperson for the CCJW says the organization appreciates the efforts made to bring the conference to the American Bank Center.
“In behalf of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, let me say that we are very happy we have been able to work things out to bring some of our conventions to Corpus Christi,” said Wayne Seilheimer, CCJW Contract Representative. “We want to express our appreciation to the city and SMG officials as well as the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and local hotels, and others who have worked for many months to make this possible.”
The effort and time invested into bringing the CCJW annual conferences the American Bank Center will be worthwhile resulting in a fruitful return to the local economy. Area businesses are already seeing the financial benefits with hotel reservations starting to roll in for this August when the CCJW conference is first scheduled at the American Bank Center. The CCJW has booked the American Bank Center for three-day weekends in August 2006, 2007, and 2008 for a total of 33 days. Each scheduled weekend is anticipated to bring in 6,000 people into the community. While the delegates may only visiting in three-day increments, that’s more than enough time for their financial footprint on the local economy to add up to an estimated $43.5 million over the next three years.
“As a resident of Corpus Christi, I am excited about the economic benefit these conventions will bring to the area, and there is the potential for more of our events that could be brought here, if we can continue to work things out so that Corpus Christi is competitive with other cities in Texas,” said Seilheimer. “We will work with the city and SMG to that end.” The American Bank Center/SMG knows positive experiences with large convention organizations, such as the CCJW, will encourage them to continue to bring their business to the city and even attract new groups in the industry to the facility.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses are members of an international religious denomination who identify themselves as Christian and number 6.5 million. Their headquarters are in Brooklyn, New York. The group is known for its extensive preaching and publishing activities issuing books and pamphlets in many languages. Its best know periodical, “The Watchtower” is printed in more than 190 languages.
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