|
Choura Events Ballooning With Major Contracts
Long Beach-Based Caterer/Venue Services Provider Lands Largest Jobs Ever By Sean Belk - Staff Writer June 19, 2012 - For the past four years, Choura Events, a Long Beach-based caterer and venue services provider, has been steadily building inventory and capabilities to be able to provide rental equipment services for the largest events in the nation. Starting this summer, the company is hitting its mark and then some. After investing $2 million in the latest event equipment – including tents, carpeting, linens, chairs and tables – and amassing a team of industry experts, Choura Events was recently awarded contracts to provide services for four of the largest events in the firm’s 42-year history.
June 19, 2012 –Choura Events has some 600 tents that span a size of 300,000 square feet,
stored at its warehouse in Torrance. The firm recently booked some of the largest events in its 42-year history. Pictured is Ryan Choura, CEO of Long Beach-based Choura Events. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville) The company recently won contracts to handle the 41st Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the 2012 ESPN Summer X-Games, the Los Angeles County Fair and the ESPY Awards. These events are attended by hundreds of thousands of people. Ryan Choura, CEO of the company that was founded in 1969, said he is proud to have the quantity of inventory and technical capabilities required to bid for such large events. He said the company continues to grow in the marketplace. “It’s taken us about four years to build the equipment and to build the team,” Choura told the Business Journal. “We’ve always set out to do a really good job and to expand our inventory . . . When these opportunities have come across, people have chosen us and we’re really thankful for that.” For the hot-air balloon festival alone, Choura Events is providing a total of 150,000-square-feet of tenting. The event takes place October 6-14 on a 200-acre park in New Mexico, which will have grass and booths filled with balloons and vendors. The Fiesta is attended by the largest international balloon teams and, according to organizers, is considered the most photographed event in the world. Until now, the company’s largest events were mostly based in Long Beach, such as the Long Beach Pride Parade, the Port of Long Beach’s 100th Anniversary, the Agenda Show and the Electric Daisy Carnival. In terms of catering, Choura Events has long-term contracts with The Grand in Long Beach, the Long Beach Event Center, El Dorado Park Golf Course, Long Beach Airport, California State University, Long Beach and the Carson Community Center. The company has also been subcontracted for large events in the surrounding area, including in Hollywood. It has provided tenting and other services for the Weinstein Golden Globes Party; an after-party of the Grammy Awards for Interscope Records; an Academy Awards after-party for Madonna; and the Mondrian Hotel Skybar, Choura said. Having been recently chosen by some of the largest event producers, such as Best Events, David Tutera of the TV show My Fair Wedding, Brent Bolthouse and Insomnia, has been a big game changer for the company, he said. Choura added that expanding the company’s event inventory, currently stored in a warehouse in Torrance, has allowed the business to hire about 10 to 15 new employees. He said the company’s main goal is to not only continue to expand, but to change the way events are presented. “My motto is that I only want to plan events that I would want to go to,” Choura said. |
The Latest News
- Long Beach Investing Over $10 Million Of One-Time Revenues In Community Infrastructure Projects
- ‘The Edison Lofts’ Project In Downtown Long Beach Moves Forward With Sale Of ‘City Hall East’
- From Second Career To Just Starting Out, Local Women In Business Cultivate Success As Entrepreneurs
- L.A. City Council Expected To Approve Rail Yard Project This Week; L.A. Staff Recommends Council Deny Appeals By Long Beach City Council, School District And Others
- Long Beach Releases Civic Center Project Request For Qualifications
- Long Beach U.S. Postal Service Mail Processing Operations Consolidation Is Slated For July 1
- Site Plan Review For Hotel/Residential Complex At 2010 E. Ocean In Long Beach Approved; 72 Hotel Rooms; 33 Residential Units Planned
- Initial Retail Space At Long Beach’s Douglas Park Nears Completion








