Brown County Board approves new agreement for Resch Center, Expo

PMI Entertainment Group will continue to manage the Resch Center and Expo for at least the next decade after the Brown County Board renewed the agreements Feb. 18.

The original agreements end in May, so the county and PMI negotiated new leases to start in June for the complex.

The board unanimously approved the new agreements with PMI Feb. 18. Board members Kevin Gannon, Ron Antonneau and John Vander Leest were not at the meeting.

Here are the terms both parties agreed to under the new leases.

Why did the county approve a new agreement?

PMI Entertainment Group has been in a contract with the county since the Resch Center opened in 2002, while the Expo opened in 2021.

The current 15-year contract expires in May, so county officials and PMI Entertainment Group leaders negotiated a new agreement to start later this year.

“These negotiations took a little bit longer but we actually probably got more than we ever had in the past,” said Chad Weininger, Brown County director of administration.

What are the new terms included in the Resch Center’s lease?

The county and PMI Entertainment Group negotiated a longer initial lease.

From June, the lease will continue for 10 years with the ability to add on another five years for a total of 15 years. Previously, the county offered PMI Entertainment Group a five-year lease with options to extend it for two more five-year terms for a total of 15 years.

Under the new terms, rent for the first year is $360,000, up from $350,000 during the past year. Rent would go up over the course of the lease based on the CPI index.

PMI will cover costs of any long-term capital improvement projects up to $50,000, up from the $25,000 cap in the original agreement. If the project costs anything above $50,000, the county would pay for it.

Under the new agreement, PMI will pay $3.2 million for any other renovations or required building improvements over the 10 years. The investment is a significant rise from the $300,000 in funds that PMI Entertainment Group is covering under the current agreement. A bulk of the money will go toward renovating the lounge area on the second floor, but it’s not certain how much that will exactly cost yet. Weininger said the funds are a major investment from PMI that will be critical to maintain aging 24-year-old building.

“This is where the rubber hits the road of what are we getting for that 10-year lease and how was this all negotiated,” said Matt Kriese, director of the Brown County Parks Department.

PMI Entertainment Group will now be able to enter into sponsorships or naming rights for entrances or other aspects for the duration of the lease, which was not allowed previously.

How about the Resch Expo’s agreement?

The Expo’s new agreement will also serve for 10 years, with an option to extend it for five more years for a total of 15 years. It’s a shift from its current five-year deal, with options to expand it for two more five-year terms.

The county also bumped up the cap from $25,000 to $50,000 for PMI’s capital improvement project costs. The county would cover any improvements that cost more than $50,000 at the Expo.

All other terms of the agreement remained the same. Like the Resch Center, PMI Entertainment Group will enter the agreement for the Expo in June.

“This is really a win win for both the county and PMI as I look at it,” County Board member Dan Theno said. “We’re getting additional revenue. They’re (PMI Entertainment Group) going to be doing additional investments in maintenance of the facilities. But we’re giving them a bigger lease to recoup their investments in the first place.”