VenuWorks Team at Pelham Civic Complex Earns Standing Ovation for Dramatic Financial Turnaround

PELHAM, AL – The VenuWorks team at the Pelham Civic Complex & Ice Arena received high praise and a standing ovation during the Pelham City Council meeting on Monday, October 20, 2025. City Manager Gretchen DiFante highlighted the team's remarkable success in transforming the facility's financial performance, leading to a five-year management contract extension for VenuWorks.

In her report, DiFante detailed the venue's history, noting that just five years ago, the facility was losing nearly $1 million annually. The decision to bring in a professional management company, VenuWorks, was made to reverse this trend and improve the customer experience. "We went with VenuWorks," DiFante explained, praising the selection of Executive Director Seth Greenberg. "He said, 'Well, there's no reason why operations needs to be losing money'... He has had that as his goal ever since he's been here."

DiFante then shared the impressive results of the team's efforts. While the complex was budgeted for an operational loss of $519,348 for the fiscal year, the team defied expectations. "I am thrilled to announce... they just finished up the year $101,824.00 in the black!” she declared.

The announcement was met with a spontaneous standing ovation from the City Council and attending residents for Greenberg, Finance Director Loredana Cretu, and the entire VenuWorks staff at the complex. Pelham City Council President Maurice Mercer added his commendation, stating, "Congratulations VenuWorks and to the complex staff for that remarkable, remarkable achievement."

Greenberg expressed his gratitude and credited his team for the success. "Thank you to Gretchen and the mayor and council for believing in us," he said. "It was a goal and I'm thrilled we achieved it, and all the heavy lifting was done by the staff. Loredana and I, we have a great team that we work with and they're the ones doing all the heavy lifting; we're pretty much just steering the ship... we've raised the bar and the goal is to continue to raise it."

Finance Director Loredana Cretu echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the group effort. "It's not just Seth and I, it's the whole team," she said. "Our main focus is on customer service, so if we accomplish that we can accomplish anything, including the numbers."

The City Council's approval of a five-year contract extension solidifies its confidence in VenuWorks to continue building on this success and serving the Pelham community.