VANOC board of directors' meeting highlights major milestones in challenging economy

    -  Funding approval for venue finishing touches; venue program now
       complete
    -  Domestic sponsorship revenue target fully met
    -  Significant progress on major operational contracts
    -  Continued efforts required to deliver Games with a balanced budget

    VANCOUVER, July 15 /CNW/ - With a growing number of milestones reached or
within sight, and the continuing ramping up of Games-time readiness planning
in an extremely challenging economy, the board of directors for the Vancouver
Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
met today in Vancouver for its fourth meeting of 2009.
    The meeting included a management update and look ahead to the coming
months from Chief Executive Officer John Furlong, as well as updates and
discussions on standing agenda items such as ongoing financial management,
Games-time planning and venue construction.
    VANOC board chairman Jack Poole, who is recovering from recent surgery,
participated in the meeting via Bell teleconferencing while Rusty Goepel was
acting chairman.
    "The continuing economic challenges call for innovative and creative
solutions to maintain a balanced budget as we continue to navigate through the
toughest stage yet in Games preparations." said Goepel. "While the signing of
a new domestic sponsor today means that our domestic sponsorship targets are
fully met and our venues are complete, challenges still remain and we
recognize that tough responsible decisions are still required on an ongoing
basis. Following a lengthy discussion on the Games budget, the project's
complexity and the turbulent economy, we've directed management to continue to
apply the same relentless efforts that yielded these successes to the
significant revenue and expenditure programs that remain."
    "As we continue to work our way through a very difficult economic
climate, we'll need to find new and additional resources and solutions to
overcome the challenges that lie ahead. We will continue to look for
efficiencies and remain fully committed to achieving a balanced budget," said
Furlong. "We're now in the most exciting and demanding chapter yet with our
final planning coming to a close this summer and the inspiration of the
Olympic Flame arriving in Victoria, BC, just three and a half months away. Our
board continues to provide the valuable oversight and guidance that helps us
navigate this phase."
    As VANOC enters the final stages of fine-tuning the world-class
competition and non-competition venues in Vancouver and Whistler, the board of
directors today approved a venue central contingency draw of $1.02 million.
The venue contingency now stands at $310,000. The funds will cover a variety
of completion work at the venues, including ongoing methane gas mitigation
work at the Whistler Athlete Centre related to the site's previous use as a
landfill, additional snow-making enhancements and ski run-out grading at
Cypress Mountain and homologation work at Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre.
The venue construction program has been delivered on time and within its
$580-million budget.
    "With the completion of these final construction details, the venues will
soon be handed over to our operations teams to complete a critical component
of our preparation," said Dan Doyle, VANOC's executive vice-president of
construction.
    The next stage in preparing the venues for the Games is the complex task
of making them Olympic competition-ready by installing such temporary items as
additional seating, lighting, banners, cables, timing and scoring equipment,
signage and scaffolding for camera positions. Athlete access to training
during this phase will be accommodated whenever possible.
    The Organizing Committee also reported it is finalizing numerous
procurement and service contracts for accommodation in the Sea to Sky region,
almost 100 kilometres of fencing for use in the Games region, snow management
and food services. Information will be posted at www.vancouver2010.com once
contracts are finalized.
    The board also received the following updates:

      -  Venue Construction: The City of Vancouver provided an update to the
         Finance Committee on the positive progress being made on
         construction of the Olympic and Paralympic Village Vancouver. Both
         athlete villages, located in Vancouver and Whistler, are on schedule
         to be handed over to VANOC this fall. Townhomes are near completion
         in the Olympic and Paralympic Village Whistler.

         The Trout Lake and Killarney training venues are complete and have
         received building occupancy permits. The rink boards at both arenas
         have been set up for international-sized ice and test sheets have
         been successfully installed. Additionally, the mechanical systems
         and ice plants have been tested and are fully functional.

      -  Contributing Province/Territory Program: Nunavut joined the program
         in July. VANOC is continuing negotiations and discussions with the
         remaining provinces and expects to make announcements in the near
         future.

      -  Ticketing: The second phase of Olympic ticket sales started on June
         6 and more than 150,000 tickets have since sold in this phase. There
         is a limited inventory of preliminary ice hockey and curling tickets
         still available for sale. The next phase of ticket sales is slated
         for late fall.

      -  Sponsorship: With a new sponsor joining today, VANOC has fully
         achieved its domestic sponsorship revenue target.

      -  Workforce: More than 26,000 potential Games-times volunteers have
         been interviewed and the process for offering Games-time roles will
         be completed by the end of August.

      -  Sport: The International Olympic Committee and International
         Paralympic Committee have approved key creative elements for the
         Victory Ceremonies. The ice hockey department is also finalizing
         plans for the final sport event: Hockey Canada Cup - Women's Hockey
         at Canada Hockey Place from August 31 to September 6. Tickets are on
         sale at www.hockeycanada.ca.

      -  Official Languages: In June, the Organization Internationale de la
         Francophonie announced the observer or grand temoin of official
         languages at the 2010 Winter Games. Pascal Couchepin, a former
         president of Switzerland, will make his first visit to VANOC later
         this summer.

      -  Transportation: The acquisition of buses for the Olympic period is
         complete and VANOC is now finalizing bus acquisitions for the
         Paralympic period.

    The next VANOC board meeting will be held on September 15, 2009.

    VANOC Board of Directors Background

    The VANOC board of directors is made up of 20 members nominated by: the
Canadian Olympic Committee (seven); the Government of Canada (three); the
Province of British Columbia (three); the City of Vancouver (two); the Resort
Municipality of Whistler (two); the Canadian Paralympic Committee (one); a
joint appointment by the Band Councils of the Lil'wat and Squamish Nations
(one); and one member nominated by the other 19 members.
    The board is scheduled to meet six times per year, and more often at the
call of the chair as required. The meetings are generally held at the VANOC
offices in Vancouver, although they are occasionally hosted by our Games
partners in other locations. The board's responsibility is to oversee the
conduct of the business of VANOC as it works toward achieving its Mission: to
touch the soul of the nation and inspire the world by creating and delivering
an extraordinary Olympic and Paralympic experience with lasting legacies.
    As part of its commitment to public transparency and accountability, the
VANOC board of directors has made today's agenda, discussion topics and
decisions available to the public on www.vancouver2010.com, subject to
conditions of confidentiality related to personal information and/or
competitively sensitive or privileged information. VANOC is also committed to
hosting media briefings following each board meeting with the board chairman,
the CEO and other director(s) or members of the VANOC senior management team
to elaborate further on matters.

    About VANOC

    VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging
of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The
2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from
February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the 2010 Paralympic
Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.

For further information: Media Contacts: Jennifer Young, VANOC
Communications, (604) 403-3589, jennifer_young@vancouver2010.com; Mary Fraser,
VANOC Communications, (604) 403-2667, mary_fraser@vancouver2010.com