REAL appoints Rick Bennett as new CEO

A troubled Regina municipal corporation has announced Rick Bennett as its new CEO and president. 

Bennett joins Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) after working as a management consultant since 2017. He was previously with Aramark and Compass Group, according to his LinkedIn page.

He'll now have the task of stabilizing a municipal corporation that has experienced a complete turnover in its board of directors and just last week dismissed seven of its senior managers.

Jaime Boldt, chair of the REAL board of directors, touted Bennett as man with 20 years of international experience in hospitality, sports tourism and venue operations.

The announcement comes just days after Regina city council approved a 90-year lease for a sports bar and music venue at the REAL campus in downtown Regina.

"I'm honoured to join REAL at such a pivotal moment," Bennett said in a news release. "There's strong momentum already underway, and I'm excited to help accelerate that progress and shape a future our team and community can be proud of."

REAL's new direction

REAL is responsible for putting on events and promoting concerts while operating the Brandt Centre, the Co-operators Centre and Affinity Sportsplex in downtown Regina.

City staff have already been directed by council to create a report examining the future of REAL, as it has struggled with a financial downturn from the COVID-19 pandemic, a lack of major events and a business model that does not cover its expenses.

Multiple scandals, including a failed bid to re-energize the city's tourism brand as Experience Regina, have not helped grow public support.

The organization's entire board of directors was dismissed by city council in November 2023, while former CEO Tim Reid was dismissed without cause in January 2024.

Those decision provided no relief for the City of Regina, which in 2024 provided the organization with $17.2 million: $5.2 million as part of the city's budget, $8 million to pay back the Canada Revenue Agency for a pandemic wage subsidy it inappropriately accessed and $4 million to help pay down its line of credit so it could continue operating into the first quarter of 2025.

The organization's 2025 budget was passed at $11.2 million.

The municipal corporation also carries with it $16.7 million in debt. Multiple reports have highlighted that REAL has no ability to service that debt on its own. Since all of REAL's loans are guaranteed by the city, Regina would ultimately be responsible for repaying that money.

Since 2019, REAL has needed an estimated $44 million in facility maintenance.

An updated facility maintenance assessment has been completed, Boldt confirmed last week. Boldt wouldn't comment on the details of the report, but inflation will only have pushed the cost of repairing REAL's facilities higher.

The city report would weigh the benefits of fully or partially integrating REAL and its assets into the City of Regina, dissolving the municipal corporation altogether and having the city take over its assets, or keeping REAL as it is with a reduced mandate and better financial efficiency.

REAL's board are also pursuing a new business model that could include outsourcing the management of its facilities or contracting out some of its responsibilities.

The status of that review isn't clear, but the city and REAL are supposed to work together on the parallel tasks.