Two new grants will make help make 2023, as well as subsequent years, brighter as the Unicoi County Chamber of Commerce continues its work to promote the county as a tourism destination.
Chamber Director Amanda Delp sat down with The Erwin Record to discuss the two grants, starting with the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development Fall Tourism Video and Photography Grant, which came with a total value of $5,000.
“We were notified in August that we’d received the grant,” Delp said, adding that much of September involved lining up locations and talent for the filming of a promotional video and hundreds of still photographs.
She noted that the grants were distributed among 20 rural Tennessee counties.
“We’re just now starting to get back some of the assets,” Delp noted. Although the grant guaranteed that Unicoi County would received 100 photographs, the Chamber actually received 732 photos.
Delp noted that the photos can be used on the Chamber’s website, on social media, for print projects and much more.
To date, the three-minute promotional video remains in production. Delp said the three minutes of video footage will be broken into short segments that can be used on websites and social media.
“The videos won’t be returned until they’re ready for all 20 counties,” she explained. “After the first of the year, the state will organize a meeting for these 20 counties to help them best utilize these assets in promoting themselves.”
Delp said the process was a really good one. The company contracted to work in Unicoi County was PopFizz, which maintains offices in Nashville and Knoxville.
“The company was fabulous to work with,” she said.
She described the photographers and videographers as having a passion for their work.
“It wasn’t just a job for them,” Delp noted. “They captured our community in the best possible light through a visitor’s eyes.”
While the Chamber did the work to prepare for the shooting of the video and photos, Pop Fizz also did its homework.
“They sent out scouts to help identify our best assets,” Delp said. “They helped us decide what to highlight.”
The first segment used several local businesses — Hunter Bleu, Whiskey River, Whisk Bakery, Baker’s Shoe Repair, Groovy Smoothie and Valley Beautiful Antique Mall — as locations for shooting.
Providing the smiling faces for the video and photos were community and Chamber board members, as well as their children, as well as some Unicoi County High School students.
The second segment featured outdoor-related business, including Nolichucky Gorge Campground, USA Raft, Peddler’s Rest and Blue Ridge Paddling, as well as the Unaka Bike Trail and the Erwin Linear Trail.
Delp said featured outdoor activities included kayaking, fly fishing and rafting.
“We went with them to all the locations,” Delp said. “They (Pop Fizz) kept commenting that we were very prepared and that would reflect well on the assets we would get back.”
Delp said participants were on location the first day of shooting from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The second day, which included a visit to Unaka Mountain’s Beauty Spot, stretched from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
She noted that the finished video will reflect a mix of local business and outdoor recreational opportunities.
In addition to the grant for providing photos and video footage to promote local tourism, the Chamber has received the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development Tennessee Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Fund Grant.
Delp said the $95,000 grant ensures that Unicoi County gets a piece of the pie from tourism funds divvied out to Tennessee counties from American Rescue Plan Act funding.
She noted that the Chamber also received notification in August that it had qualified for this grant.
It’s also a non-match grant, which means that the Chamber and Unicoi County are not required to put up any matching funds.
“It’s a reimbursement grant,” she explained. “Once we spend it, we get back the money from the state.”
Delp said that because the grant is funded through the state from federal funds, there are a lot of layers.
“It has checks and balances, and lots of hoops to jump through,” she said.
In September, Delp and Cathy Huskins, the Chamber’s new Tourism Director, underwent education about the grant through a series of webinars spread across nine weeks.
She noted that the $95,000 grant will be spread across four years from 2023 through 2026.
Delp said that Unicoi County is classified as a Tier Three county, which determines prerequisites for spending the funds.
“We will take part in a road map strategic planning session on Wednesday, Dec. 7,” she said.
Invited to the meeting are tourism-related stakeholders, Chamber board members and local officials. In total, 40 different people have been invited to take part in the session.
While no planned uses of the funds have been finalized, Delp said she would like the Chamber to complete a map project. She described the maps as offering illustrated highlights of some of the county’s best tourism features.
In addition, Delp wants to expand the presence of Unicoi County and the Chamber on social media. One goal would be to expand to platforms beyond Facebook and Instagram.
She is also contemplating working with marketing companies on how local businesses can get their maximum impact from social media.
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