Dutch Oil vice-president Matt Bogue is the newest member of the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau board.
Columbus mayor Keith Gaskin and Lowndes County Board of Supervisors president Trip Hairston announced their joint appointment in a press release Friday. Bogue will serve a four-year term, which starts immediately, and will be sworn in at 4 p.m. Oct. 24 during the CVB board’s next monthly meeting.
Bogue was chosen among four applicants for the post, including incumbent Richard “Sonic” Johnson, the retired public affairs officer at Columbus Air Force Base who was appointed in March 2020 to serve the unexpired term of Gen. Thomas “Tango” Moore. Other applicants included Fred Kinder, who has served on many local boards, including for the Columbus Arts Council, Community Theater, Mississippi Theater Association, and the Friends of the Library; and Mary Weatherby, who works for Community Counseling Services and volunteers with the CVB.
Dutch Oil Company, based in Columbus, is a regional distributor of Shell petroleum products and also operates area Sprint Marts, Dutch Village, Bullets restaurant, West Bank, and Stateline Fuel Centers. Bogue has been with the company for 10 years.
He told The Dispatch he was at-first reluctant to apply for the post but ultimately decided his business experience could be an asset to a board that leads tourism efforts across the county.
“As a business person, I tend to look at return on investment,” he said. “Because public funds are used for CVB, the board needs to deliver a return for its stakeholders, which are the citizens and businesses.”
The city council and board of supervisors each appoint four members to the CVB board. The mayor and board of supervisors president appoint its ninth member.
Both Gaskin and Hariston also pointed to Bogue’s business experience as an asset.
“He has experience dealing with budgets and bottom lines, and we believe he will complement well the group already in place,” Gaskin said. “He can bring fresh ideas, he has good contacts on the state and federal level, and we wanted to select someone who could move the CVB to the level of success.”
Hairston agreed but noted all four applicants would have made great board members.
“We interviewed all the candidates one-on-one, and we were impressed with all the applicants,” he said. “I firmly believe Sonic has done an excellent job on that board, and we are grateful for the two years he’s served. … It was a hard decision.”
The Dispatch could not reach Johnson for comment by press time.
The CVB is funded primarily through a 2-percent local sales tax on prepared food and beverages.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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