By Kris Leonhardt

Editor

STEVENS POINT – Stevens Point will be the site of the Tavern League of Wisconsin (TLW)’s 87th Annual Spring Conference, April 3-6, at the Stevens Point Holiday Inn & Convention Center.

Tavern League of Wisconsin Managing Director Tina Conley said that TLW hosts two conferences – a spring and fall – based on a variety of criteria while moving the events around the state.

“The TLW Conference has between 400-800 attendees and in addition to filling a number of hotels in the city the members spend money at a variety of small businesses in the host city.  A TLW Convention has a substantial economic impact on the local community and tax base including the hotel room tax.  Attendees to the convention visit local restaurants and taverns in the community.  The TLW provides free  roundtrip rides to all attendees to area restaurants, supper clubs and taverns,” Conley explained.

“In addition to getting updates on state and federal issues affecting the hospitality industry, convention attendees visit the trade show with over 70 vendors catering to the needs of their restaurants and taverns.  The trade show is where many of our members do their shopping for their business.”

The scheduled keynote speaker is Milwaukee Brewers President of Business Operations Rick Schlesinger.

TLW is a non-profit trade association serving the segment of the state’s hospitality industry that handles alcoholic beverage retail.

“The TLW Spring Conference will also offer an opportunity for new establishments to join the SafeRide program. Since its inception in 2004 the SafeRide program has given over 1,000,000 free rides home from participating TLW member establishments,” a TLW release stated.

Proceeds from the event will go to support Guns N’ Hoses, which supports Portage County veterans through events and grant programs. For more information on the organization, visit www.tlw.org