YCVB Director Bob Sautter reflects on his long career.
YORK – “Well, I just love York County,” says York County Visitors Bureau (YCVB) Director Bob Sautter, when asked about his motivation to be in that position for the last 23 years-plus.
He even demonstrated his love by hugging the replica of the iconic York water tower, which has been displayed in his office for decades.
At one point, he jokingly offered the monument a kiss – which is a sign of his great sense of humor but also undying dedication to making sure the rest of Nebraska, United States and even the world know what his home county has to offer.
It was June, 2001, when Sautter was hired for this position. Prior to him being at the helm of this department, it had only been a part-time endeavor under the auspices of the Greater York Area Chamber of Commerce.
Once Sautter was on board, it became a full-time position. He’s the first and only person to hold the full-time job, promoting York County tourism, since that happened.
“Well, 23 years is a long time,” Sautter said laughing. “And now I’ve decided it’s time for me to retire. I always heard people say a person just knows when the time is right to retire and now, all of a sudden, I’ve realized that.”
Sautter has always loved working within the tourism industry. When he was in college, he applied to be a vacation guide/traveler counselor with the State of Nebraska – when that effort of tourism promotion was created – and was hired.
Vacation guides/traveler counselors man the various rest areas in the state – they are there to help guide and inform visitors as to what the state and its communities have to offer.
When Sautter became a vacation guide, Todd Kirshenbaum was in charge of the state’s vacation guide program. Kirshenbaum and York’s Sally Ruben were good friends. Ruben was on the board for the newly-formed York County Visitors Bureau. And both encouraged Sautter to apply for the full-time position in York County when it became available.
He got the job . . . and as they say, the rest is history.
Sautter noted how when he started here, there were basic requirements which had to be fulfilled, such as doing the bookwork for the county’s lodging tax receipts and handling claims for the local tourism effort.
“Sally was patient enough to work with me for a few weeks and I was able to get information and knowledge from other tourism directors in other counties in the state,” Sautter remembers.
And over time, the program in York County grew, as new ideas, slogans, projects, efforts took shape.
In today’s world, he says the competition between smaller communities and larger cities is so much more so, as everyone works to draw in conventions, conferences, gatherings, events, etc.
“I feel for the counties which don’t have lodging tax, because they have don’t have much, financially, to work with,” as far as promotion and site grants they can provide to local efforts. “We are so fortunate that we have a lodging tax, with the receipts we can use to help those efforts. And we of course, are so lucky with our location, as many people want to come here for a variety of reasons.”
Some of those reasons, he noted, are the York Ballfield Complex, the Holthus Convention Center and many other attractions which bring people to York County. “These attractions bring in even larger crowds because the amenities can house their needs. That’s been a big game changer.”
And the lodging tax receipts have reflected those higher volumes of visitors, staying overnight, and thereby spending more money in York County.
One of the “behind the scenes” jobs Sautter has been taking care of over the years involves the preparation of thousands upon thousands of welcome bags. These are for conventions, conferences, to give to new residents who are locating here, alumni banquets and more. In those special bags are all kinds of brochures, pins, name tags, York County souvenirs, York Peppermint Patties and the list goes on. It’s estimated that during his tenure he’s prepared at least 40,800 welcome bags.
Over the course of decades, strong relationships have developed between the visitors bureau, the chamber of commerce, the York County Development Corporation and the York County Foundation, as the entities have historically been housed together and the officials find themselves helping the others out when they can and when warranted.
So many promotions have been launched over the years – successful ones – which not only brought in more visitors but were also recognized on the state and national levels. There was the successful “50 Miles of Smiles” promotion during which York, Seward and Hamilton Counties worked together. A grant helped pay for this endeavor – grant writing has been a major part of Sautter’s role over the years, as well.
He helped launch the glossy visitors guide called Experience York, which is distributed throughout the state to promote York County.
There was also the very successful “gas giveaway” promotion called Tanks A Lot. This one earned state awards for its successful promotion and results.
And the YCVB won a state award for Outstanding Tour Publication, which was a die-cut balloon-shaped visitors promotion brochure.
One of his most prized awards is the 2010 Crystal Compass Award, given to him by the Nebraska Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus, when he was selected by his peers to be recognized.
He’s also sacrificed life and limb, year after year, when he attends the statewide brochure swap which really equates to a feeding frenzy as visitor bureau chiefs from all over the state convene in one location, each armed with shopping carts, to snag as many visitor brochures as possible from all over. Then, once collected, Sautter makes sure each and every one is sorted, displayed at the downtown location and the nearby I-80 rest areas.
He’s met a lot of people over the course of his nearly 24 years in the industry – promotion experts such as himself, fellow York County residents, business owners, visitors . . .
“Really, the best part of this job has always been the people,” Sautter said. “It’s all about tourism and bringing people to our little area of the world. I’ve met a lot of really amazing people . . . and I’ve heard a lot of strange requests and questions over the years.”
He said most of those “strange requests and questions” have come over the phone or via email, as there are some on the East Coast who called the York County, Nebraska office when they thought they were calling York, Pennsylvania. And then some questions didn’t make sense at all, regardless of where they came from.
“I had a call from someone who wanted to know how to grow Elephant Ear plants,” he said, laughing. “I’ve had people call and want me to teach tennis lessons – I have no idea why. There were inquiries if I could give diving lessons to someone’s son. I don’t know. And one guy wanted a schedule for our snake show when we weren’t having one.
“But there have been many, many legitimate requests for help when people were trying to set up events in York County and they need help booking locations, food, all types of particulars which go with that,” Sautter said. “The increasing number and sizes of offerings we have now have been a godsend because we can accommodate a lot more than we used to.”
Sautter hasn’t just worked for the YCVB – he’s also been an avid volunteer in many aspects related to efforts in York County and has been one of the most involved York Chamber Ambassadors in the history of the organization.
And then there’s also the fact he was once named Yorkfest King, because of his many years of volunteer work to further his beloved York County.
“I think another great thing about this job has been my board,” Sautter said. “It’s always been such a good board, with the members open to ideas and they have given me flexibility to do promotions. They embrace many different projects and efforts (to which they provide grant money from the local lodging tax receipts) and they have been behind so many great events we used to have.”
He mentioned some of his favorite events he helped spearhead over the years – Scream on the Square, the Peep Show . . . to name a couple.
Sautter will continue in his position until Aug. 31. He said he plans to work with whomever assumes this position after him, until that date.
“It’s just time to retire,” Sautter said. “What I want to do in my retirement, I haven’t thought that far ahead yet. I plan to spend more time taking care of my gardens and my landscaping, I’d like to travel. When I talked about retiring, during the last brochure swap, some other retired individuals said to just take it easy for about a year before accepting any new roles, so I will. I just have to say I have treasured these years working for the county’s visitors bureau – it’s been so rewarding, entertaining and fulfilling. York County is a great place to visit . . . and of course, live.”
