2009 was a busy year in the City of Spencer and we are not slowing down for 2010. We have implemented an aggressive Marketing Initiative that continues to gain attention for our community.
With this aggressive marketing approach we will be showcasing what a great place the City of Spencer is to live, to work, and to play. Rather, than "chasing smokestacks", we are taking an intrinsic look and expanding on what we as a community have to offer and what we do well. When we as West Virginians take a refreshed look at our communities we realize that we are surrounded by wonderful natural resources and brilliant people. Combining these assets to create both a travel destination and to establish a progressive way of living yields a desirable community in which to be located. By taking this approach we focus on the quality of life which promotes youth retention and business recruitment and development. Now and more so in the future, tourism is economic development.
As we continue to build towards the new economy we have expanded our efforts in promoting The City of Spencer. Some of these efforts include:
Creating a collaborative Tourism Initiative between the Mayor's Office, WVU Extension Agency and the Roane County Commission. This Initiative focuses on combing financial resources from the government agencies and creating tourism based business partners to seek West Virginia Department of Tourism Grants. We were able to partner with 14 businesses that meet WV Tourism criteria to create a program that focusses on radio advertisements, television advertisements, print advertisements and 4-fold brochures. Currently, we are diligently working with WV Tourism for approval of this grant and feel optimistic that we will be successful. This initiative will showcase our outdoor adventure options, shopping district, wine region, historic theaters and bed and breakfasts and all of the businesses that help mold The City of Spencer into a tourism destination.
- The Chestnut Ridge Artist Colony continues to gain attention and momentum. Recently, we were awarded a grant to work with an architect to develop a master plan. Once we have this created we will have a much greater marketing advantage. Currently three resident artisans create their work here.
- We continue to develop our natural resources as we look to turn a 200 acre tract of land into an Outdoor Recreation area with hiking and biking trails. This area literally connects to Downtown Spencer and will give us an incredible dynamic in that citizens can leave their front door and be walking in nature within minutes. Charles Fork Lake, an Outdoor Recreation staple in our community, continues to receive upgrades as well. Most recently eight campsites were created. In 2010 we will also be adding more picnic shelters and a handicap accessible fishing pier.
- Increasing our web presence has been a tremendous asset and a lot of fun. We redeveloped our website to contain constant fresh news giving web browsers a reason to continually visit The City of Spencer online. To combine with this new look site we got aggressive in social media formats (Youtube, Flickr, Facebook, online photo galleries). The social media has helped us promote our City while at the same time it has developed into a resource for our business owners. Before the website revamp the City of Spencer homepage was receiving virtually no traffic. Now, we are visited nearly 1,000 times per day.
Events speak to the quality of life in our community and we are rich in these events. Each October The Black Walnut Festival draws tens of thousands of people to The City of Spencer. Nearly every month we have an event that not only draws tourists but also improves our collective quality of life. We have all class high school reunions, Heritage Days Festivals, Community Potluck dinners focussed on locally grown food, outdoor summer concerts, Christmas parades, mountain bike races, fishing tournaments and more.
The key to our successes has been and will always be community spirit and the commitment of our community to work towards the greater good. We are fortunate in the fact that our community is active in making this a great place to live, to work and to play. This spirit creates a wonderful quality of life and allows me in my professional position to go out and create.
Jacob Fetty: Marketing Director, City of Spencer
Building community in Spencer
Jacob Fetty,
Please outline your team's strategy for diverse industry approaches to your community's long term successful financial income opportunities. What does the population of your community have to offer eachother? Have you taken a survey of your community's passions and talents? Do you consider that while tourism is good, it should only be a % of your community's income to draw from....I am interested in knowing the population of your community and how it might best diversify for the future economic roller coasters. What are your local schools doing to support the unknown job force of tomorrow? This is an answer your community should be marketing heavily. Do you have a think tank approach brewing in your community leadership? I am very interested in following your community building approach...if it is taking similar approaches that have been written and taught already, will it fit tomorrow's needs? How are you approaching sustainable growth opportunities?
Karen Schultz
Way to go, Spencer!
I enjoy visiting Spencer for the downtown area with its eclectic mix of shops and friendly people. It's exciting to see the area moving and planning ahead. Spencer is an attractive small town with lots of potential for drawing day-trip visitors from more urban areas within easy driving distance. Congratulations on your accomplishments so far.
Post new comment