Emery County travel board votes to seek $80,000 co‑op grant for events and $15,000 for a marketing plan

The Emery County Travel Board voted on June 10 to apply for a state co‑op marketing grant requesting $80,000 to support events and an additional $15,000 to develop a marketing plan. The proposal passed after a motion and roll‑call affirmation by board members.

Board members and staff spent much of the meeting debating the scope of outside help to fund. The board’s director said the office currently has about $81,000 in expenses that could be used as match and proposed asking the state for $80,000 for event marketing while adding a second tier for marketing‑plan services. “We have about $81,000 that we kind of is, you know, stuff that’s solid that we know we’ll be spending money on,” the Director said when explaining the match the office could provide.

Members weighed multiple price tiers presented by HUB, an outside marketing firm: a low‑touch option ($5,700 for support calls), a mid‑tier consulting package (about $20,000) and a full‑service option the board discussed at roughly $55,000. One committee member urged caution about buying an expensive, multi‑year plan that later commissions could replace: “we need to have a vision before we start conversation,” the Committee member said, warning that a future commission could change priorities and render an expensive plan obsolete.

Supporters said a professionally produced plan could help secure future grants and provide clearer guidance for staff and the public. “Having a professional document like that could help… to help them understand the goal and what we’re doing and get some buy‑in,” a Committee member said in favor. Others favored a smaller, final‑product‑focused engagement, proposing roughly an $11,000 package to produce a usable plan while preserving board control over execution.

After discussion the motion to apply for $80,000 for events and $15,000 for the marketing plan carried. The board’s director said staff would pursue the application this month, interview prospective consultants if funded, and return with contract details and timeline options.

The board also agreed to build a six‑month meeting schedule to address mission and values, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), community engagement and plan layout to give members time to review and provide input before committing to longer contracts. The director said that if the co‑op award arrives, some contract money will not be billable until September or October, which will stagger project work into late summer and fall.

Next steps: staff will file the co‑op application by the end of the month, and the board will expect follow‑up materials and contract proposals for any consultant work before allocating funds.