Cleveland CVB and sports commission establish alliance

Positively Cleveland and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission will be managed by the same person under a new alliance approved last month. On Jan. 1, David Gilbert will become chief executive officer for both organizations. Dennis Roche, resident of Positively Cleveland since 2003, will remain in that role at the CVB until the end of the year, then move to a consulting role for 2011.

The two organizations will remain independent with separate finances and boards of directors to govern the work of the respective organizations. But the joint leadership will enable them to work together to share resources in an effort to bring more groups to Northeast Ohio.

“Our two organizations share similar goals, but we have worked to achieve them in different ways,” said Fred DiSanto, chairman of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission Board of Directors. “By establishing a single executive leader, we can foster synergistic and joint staff relationships and develop operating philosophies based on entrepreneurial spirit and community engagement. At the same time, maintaining separate staffs will allow us to retain individuals with a strong interest in each group’s mission and the expertise to meet or exceed goals.”