WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Brian Jack (R-GA), Chairman of the Small Business Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development, held a hearing titled, “Beyond the Ballpark: The Role of Minor League Baseball in Economic Growth” to examine how minor league baseball contributes to community development and economic growth.

“I am honored to convene yesterday’s bipartisan hearing and highlight the positive impact of Minor League Baseball on the communities we call home,” said Chairman Jack. “I am especially proud to feature the Columbus Clingstones, the Atlanta Braves’ newest minor league affiliate, who are an enormous source of pride across the southern part of my district.”

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Watch the full hearing here.

Below are some key excerpts from today’s hearing:

Chairman Jack: “Could you illuminate, for this panel, how the facilities at which minor league baseball teams play serve their communities outside of baseball?” Mr. Battle: “It’s a great question, and it’s a goal that we have at Diamond Baseball Holdings. We operate—basically run roughly 70 professional baseball games a year, but these stadiums are the centers of energy in most of these communities. We are actively involved in—and ranking members Scholten talked about several of the things that happen in minor league baseball stadiums—with concerts, with movie nights, with just all of the things, with weddings and graduations and corporate outings, having the opportunity to amplify and to highlight our stadiums 365 days a year. In Charlotte, North Carolina, the Charlotte Knights, Triple-A White Sox, there’s a 30-day winter wonderland that takes place from December first through January first, and last year, tens of thousands of citizens in Charlotte came into the stadium. It was lit up. There was an ice rink in the centerfield. That’s one example of the many ways that we are working beyond baseball to create these special memories for the citizens in the community.”

Rep. Bresnahan: “Lou, you recently mentioned that you are celebrating your 45^th anniversary at PNC Park. Can you speak more about the partnership with the team and what it means to Independent Graphics?” Mr. Ciampi: “As I said before, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are very much a part of the Independent Graphics’ brand. To be able to go out on a sales call and say, ‘we are a proud partner of the New York Yankees—like them or not like them—Triple-A team,’ it’s certainly a conversation starter. Some of the unbelievable memories, up there one in particular: the day that we met Reggie Jackson…The vision of Reggie and my old man shaking hands like they’re two old army buddies, that’s never going to leave me. That will never leave me. Where does a company, started 45 years ago by one man, get the chance to go up to the ballpark and meet all of our baseball heroes? That’s coming straight from the heart. That’s one of the biggest things for me about the ballpark, they are a part of our family.”

Chairman Williams: “One of the most important aspects of minor league baseball is that it makes our nation’s pastime available to more people in communities outside of the few cities that host major league teams. Mr. Ryan, you are the CEO and founder of both the Corpus Christi Hooks and the Round Rock Express, the minor league franchises you mentioned. Both teams brought baseball to communities that lacked easy access to the sport. So, how have these communities changed now that a minor league team has been established in them and is part of the community? Mr. Ryan: “I think people don’t realize what they’re missing until they get a team in their community, and it’s really about quality of life. I think, as Pat was saying, every market is very different. In Corpus Christi, they had never been able to find something that could bring the community together, and unfortunately, in a divided society today, there are few things that do bring everyone together. Sports teams do that. Teams win a championship, and everybody is high-fiving and hugging each other on the street. That’s really what we saw in Corpus Christi. First and foremost, it brought the community together in a way that had never been done before. It was fun to see the development around the stadium. The city really jumped on the ballpark and created a SEA district, which encompasses sports, entertainment, and arts. They’ve now clustered all of their amenities into one area of town, creating a unique destination. The city was known for being a regional summertime vacation spot, but it lacked anything really to do at night. People would go to the beach or go to the aquarium, the USS Lexington, but then, at night, they didn’t really have anything to do, and now, you’re seeing that with a concert venue and the stadium and some other stuff.”

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