CHICAGO — The National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals (NCBMP) held another edition of its The Empowerment Speaker Series webinars on Feb. 12, that shared insights into the impacts that the recent executive orders can have on live events.
The webinar, featuring Dr. Ravi K. Perry, a professor of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C., not only covered the historical evolution of presidential powers, but it also dove into what specific executive orders can impact the live events industry and how.
The Potential Impacts to the Events Industry
According to Dr. Perry, some of the executive orders that have been signed thus far pose a threat to events and organizations that rely on specific kinds of funding to operate. For example, some potential impacts include a loss of state and federal funding, loss of donor-based funding and the laying off of full-time and part-time staff.
“Executive orders can impact a lot of flow of materials, and could impact your supplier diversity chain. [It] can impact your ability to receive funding that might have certain kinds of staff members associated with that funding,” Dr. Perry said. “You can have donors decide to no longer support what you’re doing because they feel as though their own kind of taxes are going to be more scrutinized. You may, as a result, have to lay off a lot of staff.”
Other Impacts
- Restructuring of annual plans and strategic direction
- Loss of state and federal funding
- Loss of donor-based funding
- Laying off of full-time and part-time staff
- Increased anxiety in the events industry
Executive Orders to Watch
Two executive orders in particular stand out as being potentially impactful to the events industry: Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and the Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.
- Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing: This order requires federal agencies to terminate “equity-related” grants or contracts and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements.
- Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity: This order eliminates all diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government.
Why Do These Matter?
These two executive orders focus on the government, but they could impact businesses as well that are looking to ensure they are aligned with the government’s regulations.
“A lot of corporations receive tax breaks and benefits for everything from their property, their building spaces to how they receive materials and trade tax levies. Most of us who work for a corporation may not know that fine print, but the C-suite knows how much of their bottom line is in part, due to some form of federal tax break, or some form of federal assistance or compliance with federal regulation,” Dr. Perry said. “But if those regulations go away, if that tax assistance goes away, then you may not have the cushion that you had been relying on to offer bonuses, to hire new staff, to do retreats.
“You receive federal funds, and if you then are no longer in compliance with what the federal government says you are supposed to be in compliance with, what will they do? They can threaten to pull your money, or they can actually pull your money. … A lot of corporations get billions in tax breaks that they otherwise would have to pay, but if they say you’re not following our rules anymore, now you’re suddenly on the hook for those billions and billions of dollars.”
These executive orders can also prevent certain individuals from being able to participate in events. A few attendees of the webinar shared that they had speakers (primarily government officials or workers) cancel their engagements last minute because it conflicted with the executive orders.
Find the webinar on YouTube here.
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Organization Description:
“The National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals was founded on February 23, 1983, on the principles of friendship, equity, and empowerment. Our very existence as an organization was created in the spirit of advocacy with the knowledge of our economic impact on a destination or hotel brand. As a result, NCBMP has directly or indirectly influenced the hiring, empowerment, and training of many hospitality professionals today. Again, NCBMP is not a political advocacy organization, but our members are impacted by the politics or apathy of our industry’s advocacy.
“We understand the importance of standing for fundamental freedoms and supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from all levels and we will continue to push for positive change. We also understand the power and influence of tourism on any economy, especially destinations, communities, and partners that we consider friends, which is why our motto, and our guiding principle is…We do Business with our Friends.”
