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Local tourism group wins DMO designation, seeks state matching grant to promote Christian County
Summary
Shelby Christian County reported it secured C3 status and an official Destination Marketing Organization designation and applied to a state DMO matching grant to fund external marketing aimed at drawing visitors from more than 50 miles away.
Shelby Christian County told the Christian County Commission on May 7 that it has completed a transition to C3 nonprofit status and received official designation as a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), enabling the group to apply for state grant dollars to promote the county.
That designation allowed the organization to submit an application to a state DMO grant program that pairs local matching funds with state dollars for external advertising, the presenter said. "A requirement for that particular program... it's intended to be for external marketing," the presenter said, adding that "all of those dollars have to be spent in markets that are more than 50 miles from whatever our destination is." The application targets markets such as Joplin, Kansas City, Lebanon and Rogers, Ark.
Why it matters: the DMO designation makes Christian County eligible for a smaller pool of state resources reserved for designated tourism partners. The group told commissioners it applied quickly after receiving the designation because the program accepts applications only once per year.
Details and next steps: presenters described an initial application described in the meeting as modest compared with the program maximums. The state program can match up to $30,000 in local investment; staff said the county group's first-year plan involved a smaller local match and a state match to fund billboards, magazine ads and digital campaigns. The group said it will report back to the commission with campaign analytics when available.
Commissioners praised the move and noted county support: the commission's chair said staff and county officials submitted a letter of support required by the state. Presenters also reviewed a pipeline of business-development projects, saying the organization currently has about 15 active projects and several ribbon-cutting completions, including a Smile Center, the Chadwick Flyer site and a Cox Rehab Hospital.
The presenters said they will return to the commission with more analytics and results once the advertising program begins.
