Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce received a $10,000 grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC)’s Microbusiness Marketing Leverage Program (MMLP) for its Shop Local / Buy Local Montgomery County campaign.
“Receiving this generous $10,000 grant for the Shop Local, Buy Local initiative for Montgomery County is a testament to the strength of our community and the importance of supporting local businesses,” said Steve Baffuto President and CEO for Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. “Together we’re not just investing in the growth of our local economy, we’re building a vibrant future for all who call this area home.”
Virginia Tourism Corporation awarded more than more than $581,607 in matching grant funds to 108 marketing programs, ultimately impacting 432 combined partners, and supporting more than 1,050 full-time and part-time jobs across the commonwealth. This funding cycle, local partners committed more than $700,168 in private-public sector funds to match the VTC funding, providing more than $1.29 million in new marketing activity to help increase off-season visitation to Virginia’s small tourism-oriented businesses and events.
Of the total MMLP grant funding, $168,675 is being awarded to areas of Southwest Virginia that were impacted by Hurricane Helene. This needed marketing funding will help jumpstart the tourism economy and encourage visitors to support affected tourism-oriented businesses.
“The Microbusiness Marketing Leverage Program is part of VTC’s strategy to grow year-round visitation in Virginia and is designed to support small tourism businesses with marketing dollars to drive out-of-state visitation during off-peak travel seasons,” said Rita McClenny, President and CEO of Virginia Tourism Corporation. “This program serves as a gateway for small businesses to engage with VTC’s marketing and development ecosystem to grow their business and build on the Virginia is for Lovers branding.”
The VTC Microbusiness Marketing Leverage Program is designed to increase visitor spending by leveraging limited marketing dollars to stimulate new tourism marketing through partnerships, and to extend the Virginia is for Lovers brand to drive off-season visitation. Using the hub and spoke tourism model to create multi-day itineraries, a minimum of five Virginia entities partner financially to apply for funding through the MMLP. Partners may consist of Virginia cities, towns, counties, destination marketing organizations, chambers of commerce, museums, attractions, cultural events, and other tourism-related businesses. The matching marketing dollars will be used to encourage visitors to come to Virginia and support tourism-oriented attractions and small businesses during the holiday, late winter, and spring break season.
Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce
