Oceanfront Merchants Association to get new president

After a little more than two years, Chris Walker told members of the Oceanfront Merchants Association that he would not seek another term, making way for the business group’s third change in leadership since it was formed in 2006.

The group was scheduled to elect a new slate of officers – president, two vice presidents, secretary and treasurer – last week, but only one of the current board members, Vice President Rick Sarver, was present.

OMA’s Executive Director Peggy Iverson said the group has not yet scheduled a special meeting to elect new officers. Sarver has been nominated to serve as the next president.

Iverson said Walker stepped down at the end of March. Since then, she said, she has run the organization with the help of Sarver and Jay Dellinger, who is the other vice president and owner of Myrtle Beach Fries.

“Chris gives 100 percent,” Iverson said. “His involvement with OMA – he was treating it like one of his businesses. Keeping four businesses and running OMA, it was too much between his real businesses, OMA and his family.”

Walker could not be reached for comment.

Walker – who owns Mad Myrtle’s Ice Creamery, Nightmare Haunted House and other businesses along Ocean Boulevard – has said he has trouble delegating work and instead he would take much of it on. Sarver said he doesn’t worry about overextending himself.

“I’m a delegator,” Sarver said, who owns Boardwalk Coffee House. “It takes a certain personality to be able to do something like this.”

OMA formed in 2007 shortly after the Myrtle Beach Pavilion was torn down as a way to ensure that businesses wouldn’t suffer without the iconic attraction. Since then, the group has held several annual events, including the St. Patrick’s Day Festival and Oktoberfest, as well as weekly fireworks downtown during the summer.

Jonathan Staton, owner of Dagwood’s Deli & Bumstead’s Pub, served as the group’s first president until stepping down in the middle of 2013. He said he still is an OMA member.

“I’d love to be able to be more involved,” Staton said, adding that he just started another business. “But between the restaurants and this new business, I just don’t have the time.”

Staton and Iverson said that being OMA president, and coordinating all of those activities, can be a draining job.

“[Walker] was burnt out,” Iverson said. “He works so hard ... and was discouraged that the city is going to cut back our funding.”

Historically, OMA has received much of its budget from city funds – with anywhere between $170,000 and $280,000 coming from the Downtown Redevelopment Corp. and about $130,000 to $140,000 coming from accommodations tax money.

The city has asked DRC over the next three years to eliminate giving grants to special events and organizations. City Manager John Pedersen also has asked Myrtle Beach City Council to not approve special event permit agreements where event organizers ask for the city’s police or park staff to provide in-kind services.

The merchants association also has typically received roughly $310,000 each year from memberships, sponsorships, business contributions and revenue from Oktoberfest and St. Patrick’s Day.

“We have a few challenges ahead of us,” Sarver said. “A lot of our funds have been redirected. So we have to get creative in what we’re doing.”

Sarver said, if elected, he would like to encourage businesses, especially hotels, to sponsor more events.

“But I understand that merchants on the boardwalk only have so many dollars to spend,” he said. “We’re going to do everything we can to keep the events that we have been doing in place, keep them going. And we’re looking at adding more events, too.

“We need to encourage fresh, new ideas,” he said. “There are new things we can do, new festivals we can have.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Oceanfront Merchants Association to get new president."