Brown Upped

Jim Brown has been named executive director of Wright State Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio. He replaces John Siehl, who took early retirement in September and has since gone to work for VenuWorks.

One of Brown’s first initiatives is to reposition the venue as Wright State Nutter Center, versus the Ervin J. Nutter Center at Wright State University, giving the university a more prominent recognition in everything about the arena. A new logo will be unveiled soon. “Wright State is a young university but a great university,” Brown said. There is considerable mutual benefit in more closely associating the arena with the 20,000-student campus, he said.

Brown said he’s going to stay in his current office, where he has been functioning as acting director since Siehl left. There are no plans to name a new associate director. Brown noted that there were a significant number of very qualified applicants for the job and he is thrilled to have been selected.

He has been at Wright State Nutter Center for 11 years. Prior to that, he worked at the Cumberland County/Crown Coliseum Complex in Fayettevile, N.C. He started in the business in minor league sports with the Columbus (Ohio) Horizon of the Continental Basketball Association after graduating from Bowling Green (Ohio) State University with a plan to get into professional sports management. The facility side soon drew him in.— Linda Deckard and Dave Brooks

 

Interviewed for this article: Jim Brown, (937) 775-664-6464

 

Granger Returns to Memphis; Grafstrom to Indiana, PA.

Eric Granger

In between his gig as general manager at the Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio, for SMG and his new job at the Memphis Grizzlies and FedExForum, Eric Granger took a five-week hiatus in Huntington, W.Va., to manage the Big Sandy Superstore Arena for SMG prior to that firm finding a replacement for A.J. Boleski who moved to Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kan. Brian Sipe took over Aug. 31 at Big Sandy Superstore Arena for SMG and Granger completed his travels in Memphis, which was actually a return home.

Granger spent four years as the director of Event Services for the Pyramid Arena and Memphis Cook Convention Center from 2001-05. He began his new job as VP of Arena Operations for Hoops LP, the parent company of the Grizzlies and FedExForum Monday, Sept. 20. He was landlord to the Grizzlies five years ago; now he works for them.

On the way to work in Memphis, Granger drives by the padlocked Pyramid, which is under contract to be converted into a Bass Pro Shop. Work has not yet begun, he observed.

Granger began his career with Ticketmaster right out of college, as an outlet manager for the city of Mobile, Ala., then went to work at the civic center there for SMG in 1995 as booking director.

Global Spectrum has named James Grafstrom as the first general manager of the Kovalchick Complex at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The $33 million complex in Indiana, Pa., includes the 5,000-seat Ed Fry Arena and is scheduled to open in the summer of 2011.

Grafstrom relocates to Indiana from the Liacouras Center at Temple University in Philadelphia where he was assistant general manager. He began his career with Global Spectrum in the operations department at the Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia in 2002. – Linda Deckard