Minutes 05-03-2022 Business Meeting

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43 b. Consideration of a Resolution Naming the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Center Conference Room as The Lee Pavao Conference Room The Board approved a resolution naming the conference room at the new Orange County Visitors Center, located at 308 W. Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, as "The Lee Pavao Conference Room". BACKGROUND: Lee Pavao served for eight years as an elected official on the Chapel Hill Town Council, including two years as Mayor Pro-Tem. Mr. Pavao worked closely with Orange County leaders and the Board of County Commissioners, as well as the Visitors Bureau staff and hospitality industry leaders. Mr. Pavao spent his career in advertising and lent his expertise to area marketing, sales and tourism campaigns to increase tourism in Orange County and in order to support economic development and increased occupancy and sales tax revenues. Lee Pavao joined J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) in New York, but was soon after drafted into the U.S. Army (1956-1958). Pavao returned to JWT New York (1958-1963) before being reassigned to a number of JWT's European offices (Amsterdam 1963-1965, Madrid 1967-1969) before returning to New York. Pavao spent the rest of his career in various JWT offices in Latin America (primarily Sao Paulo and Lima) before being named President and CEO of JWT Brazil in 1980, eventually assuming responsibility for JWT operations across Latin America. Lee and his wife Joan retired to Chapel Hill in 1988, and Joan passed away in 1990. Mr. Pavao threw himself into a second career as a community volunteer, town leader, advocate for tourism development, senior citizens and grandfather. The J. Walter Thompson Company, Lee Pavao papers, were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library at Duke University as a gift in 2019. https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/jwtpavaolee The Lee Pavao papers include advertisements and advertising designs, clippings, correspondence, meeting minutes and planning documents, photographs, presentations, reports, slides, speeches and other materials relating to Pavao's career, primarily in Latin American offices in Brazil and Peru. Client companies represented include Ford, Kellogg and Kodak. In 2012, the Orange County community gave a standing ovation to Mr. Pavao when he became a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award for his 30 years of volunteer service in Orange County. In recognition and appreciation of Lee Pavao's contributions to Orange County, the proposal to name the Visitors Center conference room at 308 W. Franklin Street as "The Lee Pavao Conference Room" was initially presented to the Board of Orange County Commissioners for consideration on April 26, 2022. The Board expressed its intent to consider the proposal as outlined in the Board's attached policy. The Visitors Center's official Grand Opening is scheduled for May 19, 2022.