MORGANTOWN — Those familiar with the phrase “beggars can’t be choosers” have some understanding of the mindset shared by the Monongalia County Commission and Visit Mountaineer Country Convention and Visitors’ Bureau when they reinstituted the Monongalia County Tourism Advancement Fund in May of 2021.
Tourism, like many industries, was flat on its back after two years of COVID hysteria.
It needed a booster.
So, the commission put up an initial $150,000 and the CVB got to work setting up a grant process aimed at enticing events back to Monongalia County.
Any events.
“What we first tried to do was really just bring in anyone,” Monongalia County Commission President Tom Bloom said.
“We did that right at the end of COVID because everyone was at home. We wanted to try to get people to go back out to events and really attract events to come here. It went much better than we expected — much better.”
To date, according to information provided by Visit Mountaineer Country CVB, the fund has aided 34 events through $390,678 in grant awards.
Based on data and CVB estimates, those events brought in nearly 105,780 visitors, filled more than 14,646 hotel rooms and generated an estimated $1.9 million for the local economy.
The commission recently provided its third $150,000 allocation to the fund as part of its 2024 budget.
As tourism has rebounded and word of the funding opportunity has spread, the process has become far-more competitive. Applications as well as pre- and post-event reports are pored over by a fully volunteer selection committee charged with getting the most bang for every buck.
“This isn’t just ‘Oh, we have some money to give out so just apply and we’ll give it to you.’ It has to check the boxes. We need to see at least 100 overnight room nights,” Visit Mountaineer Country CVB President and CEO Susan Riddle said, adding, “We know events. It’s not an exact science and we really, really work with individuals. But it is free money. You’ve got to make sure we accomplish what the intent of the fund is to do.”
And that, she continued, is to bring in destination branding and tourism-driving events that attract visitors from outside the destination area, typically defined as 50 miles away or more.
“This will be year number three and we have, as you know, great success with that program,” Riddle said.
The grant application portal available through visitmountaineercountry.com (under the “More” tab) will go live this week. Applicants should submit their information at least six months in advance of the planned event.
In other county news, the commission granted an $18,382 funding request from the nonprofit Historic Post Office Building Inc. to support plaster restoration on the first floor of the 109-year-old building at 107 High Street.
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