County board approves hiring of intern for visitors bureau

​YORK – After some considerable conversation, the York County Commissioners have agreed to allow the hiring of an intern for the York County Visitors Bureau, with the position to be reviewed again next fall.

​York County Visitors Bureau Director Alex Saathoff explained to the county board, in two separate meetings, how she is working to access cutting-edge technology and artificial intelligence to improve the agency’s focus and marketing efforts.
She explained how she is working to modernize the office and in doing so, a part-time intern could be very helpful in the office.
Her proposal was to work with York University through the internship, with the intern working 10-15 hours a week for a wage of between $18 and $20 an hour.
Saathoff said the YCVB board was in favor of the internship and was recommending approval for the position.
She said an intern would assist with targeted content and promotion for better marketing, to further draw people to come to York County and stay longer. The intern would help with office duties, photography, putting together marketing materials, doing social media and more.
“This is a fiscally responsible investment,” Saathoff told the county board members. “Our lodging tax receipts are up $6,000 compared to last year at this time and we have plenty of lodging tax dollars to pay for this.”
She also said there was plenty in the budget for this expense.
York County Commissioner Randy Obermier, who sits on the YCVB board, said this intern would work only for the YCVB and not for other offices in the building where the chamber and development corporation are located.
“We could try this and see if we like the arrangement, we would do one semester at a time,” Obermier said.
He also noted there is currently $340,000 in the visitors improvement fund and $166,000 in the promotions fund – both pots of money are generated by lodging taxes and are used for YCVB operations as well as grants for local projects and endeavors.
“And funds will increase this year with two new hotels,” Obermier added.
“I like this in theory but my fear is money will be spent on training an intern each semester to only have them leave at the end of the semester and then have to retrain another one all over again,” said Commissioner Andy Bowman. “I’m all for internships, I really am. But I just don’t know if this is a fit for that type of arrangement. I guess I feel there could be better ways for money better spent. I just think you will end up just doing training and end up doing most of the work yourself anyway. That concerns me.”
“I already shared my concerns with Alex and I received some questions from the public as to whether this position is necessary and if it would really drive tourism in York County,” said Commissioner Chairman Daniel Grotz. “I do have reservations like Mr. Bowman. I wonder if this should be a seasonal position. Would a York University intern be available in the summer?”
Saathoff said she was told by the university they would be more likely to have an intern stay through the summer if they were hired at the start of the semester.
“I love our partnerships with York University but we also hear people talk about keeping our local kids here. Would this be exclusively with York University or could we utilize our local kids, who are from here already?” Bowman asked.
“I think that would be a great idea also,” Saathoff said. “I think it would be awesome to have a younger voice from someone who grew up here.”
“I agree with Andy about training concern but if they are going to be doing social media and photography, you could probably get some pretty good work from them,” said Commissioner Joe Burgess.
“I think it would be great to do with an internship but my concern is about continuity,” Bowman said. “I don’t want to see your talents tied up with training interns. I struggle with utilizing an intern for what you are going after.”
Bowman also suggested maybe eliciting help from county residents who already have experience in photography and journalism, to help with these types of tasks. “There are a ton of freelance photographers in the area you could utilize. I’m concerned you will end up handling the majority of the work anyway, if you are always training interns.”
“What is nice about this conversation is that people are paying attention to the visitors bureau,” Obermier said. “And they see what the agency does. I still like the idea and I think we should try it, see if it will work. She’s brought this office a long way since she’s been here.”
“We have more lodging properties than many counties like us and around us and we need to find a way to have people stay here longer and we know what we have to offer,” Saathoff said.
“I would be more comfortable if we’d designate it as a temporary situation, so we can see if it will work,” Grotz said. “I’d be more on board if this was on a trial, temporary basis.”
“And I could make quarterly reports on what has been achieved,” Saathoff said.
The commissioners agreed to hire an intern for the visitors bureau with the term of employment to be now through Sept. 1 – and they will revisit the matter again in August to determine “the impact of the position.”