Friday, October 10, 2003
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Friday, October 10, 2003 |
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Turner tells why
he's gambling on takeover EDITOR’S NOTE: Tommy Turner, president and co-founder of AIS Computers in Fayetteville and a member at the Peachtree City Tennis Center, has proposed creating a Limited Liability Partnership, or LLP, that would take over the operations of the Tennis Center and Fred Brown Jr. Amphitheater. Among the names that have expressed interest in the venture, says Turner, are former Zoo Atlanta Director Terry Maple, auto dealer Mike Fitzpatrick, and former Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox. Turner held the first organizational meeting of the proposed LLP on Monday at the Tennis Center’s Ashland Grille. Earlier in the day, he distributed via e-mail the following self-prescribed Q&A in an attempt to explain who he is, and what his goals are. Q. Why are you doing this? A. As a founding member of the center I have enjoyed being a part of this world-class facility.ÊAs the situation surrounding the center grew more dire I polled a number of you to see if there was interest in supporting a private management group. I was convinced by the response I received that it could be done. Q. Who are you and what is your background? A. My name and address are listed below.ÊI grew up in Riverdale, and have lived in Fayette County for 30 years.ÊI am 54, married to Vicki Turner for 34 years and have two grown daughters, Christy & Michelle. I am the president of AIS Computers, a company I cofounded 21 years ago. Q. What will be the structure of this group? A. This has not been finalized yet. My initial thought is to form a group of approximately 15 investors primarily made up of patrons of the center who would provide broad oversight. There would also be a core group of 3 to 5 people that would be more hands-on. Q. What will it cost me to invest in this and what are the risks? A. My current plan is to ask 15 investors (including myself) to put up $10,000 each.ÊWe would use this for operating capital. I would hope that in 3 to 5 years we could repay this to you. We are also looking at the possibility of offering you a Gold membership for $10,000 that would be good for X number of years and have some benefits over what a regular membership currently provides. (I am sure that I have probably violated some security law with the above statement so maybe adding the disclaimer that I am neither a lawyer or a CPA will keep me out of the pokey and yes, you could lose all your investment.) Q. How much will I earn on my investment? A. You will have great returns in the benefit of knowing that you played a part in ensuring that this world class tennis facility will continue to provide our community with a great place to play tennis.ÊWe have no plans to provide any financial returns to the investors beyond your original investment. Q. Do you really think you can find 15 people willing to put up this much money? A. The response I have received so far from the community has been outstanding.ÊI have verbal commitments for about 75 percent of what is needed.ÊSo far this idea has been very easy to sell.ÊFriday (Oct. 4) after the Citizen News article hit the streets with a short overview of our idea I received four inquiries from people interested in helping.Ê After a few minutes of explaining the idea, 3 of the 4 committed to put up $10,000. Q. Who will this group report to? A. At present we will report to the PTC Development Authority.ÊDue to the ever-changing political landscape I would like to see this group be constructed so that it could continue even if it needed to report to the city at some point. Q. I don’t have $10,000 to put up.ÊIs there a way I can help with this effort? A. Yes.ÊOne of the main reasons this venue is so great is due to thousands of hours contributed by so many volunteers.ÊI expect this to continue.ÊWe need lots of input and help so please don’t shy away from us. Specifics aren’t known yet. Q. Does this group have the expertise to accomplish this? A. We are not just a group of racket-swinging tennis addicts (although my wife accuses me of this at times).ÊWe are a group of people with many years of business experience.ÊWe are business leaders, doctors, lawyers, financial executives and yes, some even have experience in tennis center management. Let me give you an example of one individual in our group.ÊMost of you may know Terry Maple and for those of you that don’t, he is the person who drove the Atlanta Zoo to become one of the best in the world.ÊHe is a PTC resident who has committed to support this effort.ÊThis is a person with experience in running enterprises that are supported by public, private and sponsorship funds. Q. Will public tax dollars be needed to run the tennis center? A. Most likely some of the hotel/motel tax dollars will be needed.ÊWe are just starting to dig through the financials.ÊA full financial pro-forma will need to be done before this question can be answered.ÊMy desire is to get the center’s revenues to cover its operational costs, if at all possible.ÊI should note we have no desire to purchase the facilities from the city or assume any outstanding debt. Q. How will the operation of the center change? A. I am not entering this with the desire to make any major changes in the way that the center interacts with its patrons. We will only strive to improve on what we have. Q. Will Virgil Christian be involved in this? A. I value Virgil and Amy as dear friends. The period over the last year or two has been very trying for them. We all owe Virgil a lot for all the hard work he put in to making the facility what it is today. At this point he will most likely not be involved, but I am open to any ideas to include him.
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