By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com
WABASH COUNTY, Ind. – Promoting Wabash County both within its boundaries and elsewhere takes more than just hard work and good marketing tactics – it also requires funding.
Christine Flohr, executive director of tourism at Visit Wabash County, and Whitney Millspaugh, VWC marketing manager, presented a recap of how the county’s tourism and marketing agency used taxpayer funds in the past year to improve the county.
Visit Wabash County receives $75,000 annually in County Economic Development Income Tax funds from the county, which Flohr said is earmarked for marketing initiatives.
“Several of the biggest pieces with your contribution and support of the CEDIT investment is us being able to continue doing community development projects like the gateway signage,” Flohr said.
She discussed replacement of North Manchester’s Victorian Village sign on State Road 15, as well as several projects in and around Lagro.
“We have the design ready to go,” she said of the North Manchester sign. “We’re working with [North Manchester Town Manager] Adam Penrod – he’s great at filing those permits so there’s not a fee for that – so the town’s going to take care of that. They’re really excited to get that old and outdated messaging replaced.”
Lagro and Visit Wabash County are collaborating on several projects, two of which received approval from Indiana Department of Transportation: a call to action on U.S. 24, calling motorists to visit, and a replacement of a sign across from The Junction in Lagro.
“We’ve spent a significant amount of time, sometimes twice a month, talking to them about their community development plans, and then working with them on addressing some of the design,” Flohr said. “We will have to file a permit for a third sign…. it will be south of the bridge, south of the Wabash River, and it’ll just be a ‘Welcome to Lagro.’
“So, those investment pieces [from the county] have been helpful.”
Flohr also mentioned the usefulness of Visit Wabash County’s electronic kiosks, the fourth of which recently went online at the new Parkview Wabash Hospital, and said that static messaging such as the new sign at Wabash’s Field of Dreams, continues to be installed to promote the county.
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