Centennial Civic Centre renamed Credit Union iplex

The City of Swift Current, the Swift Current Broncos Hockey Club, and Innovation Credit Union have announced a unique three-way partnership that will result in the renaming of the Centennial Civic Centre to the Credit Union iplex.

In the three-way partnership agreement announced on Tuesday, Innovation Credit Union will retain the naming rights for a period of 10 years. In return the Swift Current Broncos and the City of Swift Current will receive $600,000 to upgrade the facility over that time period.

Innovation Credit Union Chief Executive Officer Brian Maunula detailed why he thought that the new partnership was well worth the expenditure.

"We saw this as an opportunity to build our brand of Innovation Credit Union and build a partnership that is very important and a mainstay in the community which is the local hockey team, the curling ice, and the hockey arena. It is an important part of the community for the growth of the community, and to invest in infrastructure programs is critical for the community as well as for ourselves as a Credit Union and part of meeting our mandate."

Mayor Sandy Larson also expressed her excitement.

"It has been a long process, but it finally came together. If we were to choose partners we could choose no better then the Broncos and Innovation Credit Union."

"We need to keep our Broncos here because of the visibility and the goodwill that the Broncos bring to us," said Larson. "Naturally we talk about economic development in Swift Current. If you sit in any airport across Canada and they will say 'where are you from?' You say 'Swift Current.' 'Oh home of the Broncos.' That is visibility. That is setting our community up to win."

Joe Arling, President of the Broncos Board of Directors, explained exactly what the funds will be allocated for.

"The money will be targeted for future capital projects into the building that will be requested or demanded by the Western Hockey League in the next five years to keep the building up to date. That is going to include areas for broadcasting and media." he said. "There still needs to be some work done in our dressing room. We had to bite the bullet just like everybody else so there was no new dressing room for the Broncos. We have to meet a certain standard for the league for our players, not just the visitors, but there is an expectation by the league that there are minimum standards. We are going to be able to meet that mark now thanks to the partnership with the Credit Union."

While the City of Swift Current owns the Civic Centre and conceivably could have profited themselves from the sale of the naming rights, but Mayor Larson said that was never really an option.

"I don't think that it was a tough decision to make. We knew that the Broncos needed additional funding to meet their commitments. We also knew that if we were to take on the naming rights of the partnership then we still needed to have them involved in it because it is them that own the boxes, it is them that owns the seating. So this is a much better partnership then if the City would have retained the rights," said Mayor Larson.

Arling explained that this was a long process that involved more than just the partners who made the final announcement on Tuesday.

"The process essentially came down to us looking at a number of organizations who expressed interest from outside of Swift Current. The other thing that we had to target was what was it worth. We have to be realistic, we are not Calgary, we are not Saskatoon, we are not Vancouver. So there was a component to that, so when we started floating the dollars out there and some of the people said we do not believe that it is that important to be in Swift Current for those dollar values. A few did fall to the wayside but it was competitive to the end in terms of three companies going right down to the wire. Part of that decision was number one, came with the dollars and the bid tendering process. Secondly if it was going to be close, our take would be if there was going to be a local flavor to the process then you do want to deal with local partners if you can."

Maunula explained that Innovation Credit Union is following the lead of other Credit Unions around the province,

"This partnership has been in the works for quite a while and we have been working with the City and the Broncos and looking at the opportunity that is created through naming rights. The Credit Union system has been active throughout the province and as well as throughout the Western Hockey League franchises throughout Canada and Western Canada."

Maunula also explained that a lot of thought went into the new name, the Credit Union iplex.

"We worked with a marketing group to talk about an effective name that really brought something close to the community. Really the iplex works on the play of the 'I' in our branding that we have developed. It creates a unique name and is something that can be recognized and that the media can work effectively with the new brand. It gives it a new fresh look overall and we are excited about the new fresh look."

Mayor Larson, for one, is a fan of the new name.

"I think that it is very modern, it is innovative, it is creative," said Mayor Larson.

If there is one drawback to the re-naming of the Centennial Civic Centre it may be that the loss of the 'Centennial' title that recognized the construction of the Civic Centre during Canada's Centennial year in 1967.

Maunula explained that the past will not be forgotten.

"Part of the legacy is to preserve the Civic Centre and there will be a plaque that will be placed in the new centre to acknowledge the past and the history. We are not forgetting the past just looking to the future for great opportunities to improve the facility."

Arling explained that he believes that Tuesday was one of the most important days in franchise history.

"I truly believe that it is a watershed moment and I reference that with the key watershed moment in this organization's history which was when the team came back to Swift Current in 1986. The Memorial Cup is a watershed moment and this is very close in importance for the long-term viability of the franchise. We are a small market team in a big league. The opportunities provided to us here by the City of Swift Current and the Innovation Credit Union people will allow us to be here for the long-term."

Arling also agreed that the success of the business side of the franchise coincides with an improved on-ice product.

"We targeted out two years ago for this year to be the year that the team was going to move forward. We believed that in the transition from when we went from the past administration into Dean Chynoweth's era that it was a three-year plan with an additional two years. Two years to put stability to it, it doesn't happen overnight in our league. So years four and five are going to line up beautifully with the plan that we had as a strategic initiative."