Following a two-phased expansion of the Phoenix Convention Center, David Stone was engaged by the State of Arizona’s Office of the Auditor General to evaluate the methodology used by the City of Phoenix related to the convention center’s economic impact estimates, and to recommend and develop an appropriate method of data collection and economic impact estimates for future analyses.

In the course of our study, we provided a comprehensive analysis of the methodology used by the City in assessing the convention center’s impacts, and methodologies used by similar cities related to various impact-related assumptions. We then provided detailed recommendations for the calculation of future estimates of convention center impacts, regarding variables such as the basis of attendance assumptions, the completion of surveys, inflation adjustments, the inclusion of association and exhibitor spending, and many others. These recommendations were then adopted for usage in future estimates of the facility’s economic and fiscal impacts.