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Kent County economic and tourism staff present 2024 scorecard; newsletters, small-business support show growth
Summary
Staff presented the department’s 2024 scorecard to the Economic & Tourism Development Commission, reporting gains in business outreach, newsletter circulation and several small-business attraction metrics. Staff outlined programs including the StartUp pitch competition, hot-desk membership, internships and tourism outreach.
Shallon (Economic and Tourism Development staff) presented the department’s strategic-plan scorecard for calendar year 2024 to the Kent County Economic & Tourism Development Commission, reviewing goals, metrics and highlights across economic development and tourism programs.
"This is the economic and tourism development strategic plan scorecard for calendar year 2024," Shallon said at the start of the presentation. The staff report summarized performance against several goals: hot-desk and shared-office memberships, business retention and expansion visits (BRE), internship placements, targeted industry attraction, and tourism measures such as visitor spending and distribution of visitor guides.
Key metrics highlighted included a growth in the economic development newsletter circulation to 774 subscribers (a 41.5% increase over 2023 after removing bounces and inactive users) and tourism newsletter growth of roughly 45% year over year. Staff reported they met or exceeded several attraction and small-business metrics in 2024, listing five “major” business additions (each with at least five employees) and multiple small-business arrivals and expansions. The presentation also listed internship placements with private employers and Kent County Public Schools partnerships.
On tourism, staff cited the Maryland tourism economic-impact study showing visitor spending up 12.6% compared with 2019 (data for tourism figures were drawn from the 2023 compiled report). Shallon said the office distributes printed visitor guides statewide and coordinates fulfillment with partner visitor centers.
Staff described ongoing programs and upcoming events: the StartUp pitch competition (first prize $4,000; runner-up $1,500), a driving-tour passport for museums with stamps and prizes, a meter-primer economic-development training event on May 22, and the department’s plan to phase out county-operated hot desks by the end of FY26 while maintaining an entrepreneurial support presence.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about data sources and program details; Shallon and other staff said they would circulate the scorecard and supporting materials and offered to bring additional details back at a future meeting. During the meeting staff also noted that Jamie (the department director) was attending the National Main Street conference in Philadelphia.
Votes at a glance: commissioners approved the minutes from the March 12 meeting and later moved to adjourn; both procedural motions passed by voice vote.
Ending: Staff will distribute the full scorecard and underlying reports to commissioners and follow up on specific questions about visitor-spending formulas, the MDOT warden track safety project and other items requested during the meeting. The commission’s May agenda will include a speaker from the hospital system and carryover items from this meeting.
