Vermont Business Magazine A collaboration between the Addison County Economic Development Corporation, Addison County Chamber of Commerce, Better Middlebury Partnership, Vergennes Partnership, and Bristol CORE has received a $30,000 grant from the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, Department of Tourism and Marketing, for regional marketing. These funds were awarded to the State of Vermont through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and have been distributed to 22 grantees across the state. See full list below.
The Tourism and Economic Recovery Marketing Grants are intended to enable local, regional, and statewide organizations to implement campaigns and initiatives that increase tourism spending, support local businesses, and advance community recovery efforts to support businesses in Vermont that have suffered economic harm due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The Addison County Regional Marketing Partnership has contracted with marketing agency LONDONmiddlebury to create an integrated campaign (digital, social & collateral) that promotes Addison County as a welcoming, community-minded tourism destination with opportunities for everyone to explore. The campaign will feature seasonal, interest-based sample weekend or short trip itineraries for the county, highlighting shopping, dining and hospitality businesses, historical sites, museums, and local recreational opportunities.
The target audiences for these efforts include individuals and families interested in day, weekend, and extended trips within a day’s drive of the metro areas of the Albany Capital Region, New York City, and Boston. One of the goals of the campaign will be to encourage a diversity of visitors, including BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, to discover all that Addison County has to offer as a welcoming destination with a multitude of tourism opportunities.
“This collaborative effort by the Addison County Regional Marketing Partnership will further assist the recovery of tourism and related business growth in Addison County. We would like to thank the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, Department of Tourism and Marketing for selecting our program as a grant recipient,” commented Phil Summers, Executive Director of the Addison County Chamber of Commerce.
The Tourism and Economic Recovery Marketing Grants are the implementation of a $600,000 appropriation by the Vermont Legislature in Act 74 (2021) to provide grants to organizations to support their efforts and activities related to regional tourism marketing to aid recovery from COVID-19. These grants are intended to enable local, regional, or statewide organizations to implement campaigns and initiatives that increase consumer spending, support local businesses, and advance community recovery efforts to support businesses in Vermont that have suffered economic harm due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
How it Worked
The grant program was designed to increase the ability of regional organizations to work with partners to attract more visitors and visitor spending to their region of Vermont. In awarding funds, priority was given to projects that have the potential for long-term transformational impacts; campaigns that reach underrepresented and new and diverse communities of visitors; and projects that create assets that will live on beyond the life of the grant term. To increase regional and statewide collaboration, new creative assets developed with this grant funding will be shared with the Department of Tourism and Marketing for additional amplification and brand reach.
Awarded grant projects fell into five primary categories: arts and culture event; development of creative assets and targeted marketing; digital and/or website upgrades; festivals; and itineraries and/or mapping projects.
The following entities received Tourism & Economic Recovery Marketing Grants:
- Addison County Economic Development Corporation: $30,000
- Arlington Arts Enrichment Program: $29,150
- City of South Burlington: $30,000
- Downtown Brattleboro Alliance: $30,000
- Downtown Winooski: $30,000
- Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Ltd.: $29,000
- Hartford Area Chamber of Commerce: $30,000
- Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce: $30,000
- Manchester Business Association, Inc.: $30,000
- Mount Snow Chamber of Commerce: $30,000
- Northern Forest Center: $30,000
- Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, Inc.: $30,000
- Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce: $10,000
- Stowe Area Association, Inc.: $30,000
- Studio Place Arts, Inc.: $11,810
- The Space On Main: $30,000
- Town of Randolph: $30,000
- Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports: $30,000
- Vermont Brewers Association: $15,708
- Vermont Cheese Council Inc.: $26,000
- Vermont Crafts Council: $24,145
- Vermont River Conservancy: $29,700
Addison County Economic Development Corporation 3.8.2022