PORT TOWNSEND — The Board of Jefferson County Commissioners approved almost $800,000 in funding for organizations seeking to boost the tourism economy.
Organizations went through a request-for-proposal process with the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) before they were approved by the county commissioners.
Groups awarded grants for next year include:
• Olympic Peninsula Culinary Loop Tourism Association: $17,100 for promotion of culinary and agricultural tourism on the Olympic Peninsula, print and digital marketing and administrative expenses.
• Olympic Peninsula Gateway Visitor Center: $140,500 for offsite marketing, payroll, administrative costs and utilities.
• Forks Chamber of Commerce: $61,297 for staffing of visitor centers in Forks and Kalaloch, tourism marketing, and costs for shipping and distributing maps.
• Jefferson County Historical Society: $84,550 for the partial funding of two employees, a programs manager and a marketing director.
• Jefferson County Farmers Market: $24,214 for print media advertising, local and regional digital media, social media marketing, video production, live event music, a Chimacum Farmers Market site manager, market administrator, kids activities and payroll taxes.
• North Hood Canal Chamber of Commerce: $50,000 for advertising, wages, insurance, administrative expenses, travel and accounting fees.
• Jefferson County Parks and Recreation: $50,000 for improvements to Lake Leland, Quilcene and Upper and Lower Oak Bay campgrounds, utilities, skilled staff and expenses associated with the website.
• Peninsula Trails Coalition: $35,700 for revegetation projects, a Stihl weed wacker, portable bathroom rentals, signage, fencing work and safety features.
• Public Facilities District Seed Funding: $20,000 for seed funding needed to establish a public utilities district for an aquatic center.
• Quilcene Fair & Parade Association: $10,000 for physical and digital marketing, event expenses including entertainment and rentals, a sanitation station, large tents and mini golf.
• Quilcene Historical Museum: $91,500 for promotion and marketing, maintenance and operations, lawn services, utilities and administrative expenses.
• Quimper Events Collective: $28,500 for advertising in Washington and Oregon along the Interstate 5 corridor, print and digital promotional materials, social media marketing, facility rentals and a regional networking brunch.
• Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission: $109,500 for annual marketing, spring and fall marketing campaigns and Olympic Peninsula tourism master plan support.
• Wooden Boat Foundation: $45,000 for print advertising in magazines, on Washington State ferries, along the I-5 corridor, spanning from Portland, Ore., to Victoria, B.C. Money will pay for a contract for a van or minibus for the event, to transport attendees from offsite locations to the Wooden Boat Festival.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
