Sullivan County received updates on economic development and tourism partnerships Thursday as county staff and a regional tourism representative reported digital engagement, outreach and ongoing site-development efforts.

Clyde Walker, introduced as the county's networks director, summarized recent business- and site-development work. Walker said he and a delegation met with U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty in Washington, D.C., to discuss a multi-year project and that county partners are pursuing foreign-trade zone status and private investment for an aerospace park. "We've hosted several developers," Walker said, adding that the county and partners are following up with potential applicants and consultants.

Alicia Phelps, with the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association, presented a quarterly marketing report under the county partnership. Key metrics Phelps cited included roughly 4,000 visits to a new county landing page in its first month, travel-trail pages that generated about 1.4 million views and 63,000 clicks between February and May, and Tri-Cities airport campaigns that produced more than 2.4 million ad placements with roughly 72,000 clicks and nearly 55,000 new users to regional pages. Phelps said the organization has distributed visitor guides in "more than 590 locations" across surrounding states and that a combined print run of visitor guides and magazines totaled about 185,000 copies.

Phelps said the tourism office is working on printed tear-off maps and "trip ideas" intended to promote rural sites outside the major hubs. She also described broadcast and streaming exposure through several outlets and a PBS segment rollout highlighting Sullivan County assets. When Commissioner Means asked about estimated visitor spending, Phelps said her materials did not include that figure but that "typically we would see around $300 to $350 per day" per visitor and that average stays were about 3.4 days.

Walker highlighted coordinated recruiting and trade outreach, including participation at an aerospace industry trade show and a recent Apex launch-and-learn event with the University of Tennessee CIS (as described in the presentation) aimed at helping local firms pursue government contracts. He also mentioned plans tied to the county's October red carpet tour to bring consultants and representatives from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to showcase county sites.

Why it matters: Commissioners heard that marketing and developer outreach are underway to translate visits and impressions into longer stays, contracted jobs and private investment. Phelps and Walker both described partnerships with local cities, Visit Kingsport and Explore Bristol, and with regional universities and economic development partners.

What commissioners asked: Commissioner Means asked Phelps to repeat the visitor-spend estimate; Commissioner Vanover thanked Phelps for including a local business in the presentation and asked for more detail about baseball-game promotions and MLB digital placements. Phelps said video spots of 5'30 seconds are running on mlb.com and the MLB app in advance of county-sponsored events.

Next steps: The tourism association plans photo and video shoots, fall-trip digital ads tied to a Speedway event and further collaborations with media influencers; county staff said they will continue follow-ups with developers who have expressed interest in foreign-trade-zone designation and in the aerospace park.

Provenance: topicintro excerpt: "Next order, Alicia Phelps, Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association quarterly report. I invite you to come forward." topicfinish excerpt: "On behalf of our partners in VISIT Kingsport and Explore Bristol, we appreciate your continued partnership and look forward to building on this foundation and success in the coming months."