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| Suzanne Beck, Executive Director |
This is an experiment. An experiment to see if I can keep up with a weekly blog and if anyone will be interested in reading it. It’s meant to give you some insight into the bits and pieces of the work done by the Chamber, at least through my eyes. We’ll see how it goes. I wouldn’t mind a little feedback along the way.
I’ve just returned from a morning in the Berkshires (at the Clark Art Institute), where I attended a “listening tour” sponsored by the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development. The Committee was gathering testimony from the industry on the impact of the state’s investment in culture and tourism. Tony Maroulis (my counterpart in Amherst) and I were there as co-leaders of the newly formed Hampshire Regional Tourism Council (RTC). We were not there to speak, but instead to show our appreciation of the legislature’s increase in funding for tourism marketing. Attending events like these (I went to one in Sturbridge a few months ago) is not the first thing that came to mind when we were first designated as an RTC. It makes sense, though. We’ll need a strong relationship with the legislators who influence the amount of funding every year. Last week I attended a luncheon of about 30 people with House Speaker Robert DeLeo for the same reason.
A quick background note. Last year, through Senator Stan Rosenberg’s efforts, the Governor’s Economic Development Reorganization bill established an RTC for Hampshire County and two others (joining the 13 RTCs already in operation). RTC’s receive funding from the state to market their region to visitors. This year is the RTC’s first full year of operation and we will receive $232,000 from the state that must be matched by the private sector 1:1.