Lieutenant Governor Bolling Announces Tourism Marketing Grant for Taste of Brunswick Festival

Regional partnership between Brunswick Chamber of Commerce, Town of Alberta and Southside Virginia Community College secures $4,910 grant for annual event

LAWRENCEVILLE, VA - Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling announced today a $4,910 tourism marketing grant for marketing the annual Taste of Brunswick Festival.  The grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation is designed to assist local and regional tourism entities to leverage local marketing dollars.  The successful grant application was a partnership between the Brunswick Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Alberta and Southside Virginia Community College.  The local partners provided a $5,364 match for the grant, making a total of $10,274 available to market the festival.

“Visitors to the Brunswick County region are an important part of the area’s economic development mix,” said Lieutenant Governor Bolling.  “The VTC Marketing Leverage Program grant will provide a boost to bring more visitors and attention to the Taste of Brunswick Festival and the region all together.”

The Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) Marketing Leverage Program is designed to stimulate new tourism marketing through partnerships and to extend the “Virginia is for Lovers” brand.  The objective of this program is to leverage limited marketing dollars, resulting in increased visitor spending.  A minimum of three entities must partner financially to apply.  Partners may consist of Virginia towns, cities, counties, convention and visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce, other local or regional destination marketing organizations, private businesses, museums, attractions, cultural events, and other not-for-profit entities.  In total, VTC awards approximately $1 million annually - matched and leveraged on average three to one by partner dollars - to more than 80 communities across the Commonwealth.

“Virginia has a lot to be proud of and the Taste of Brunswick Festival is one of the highlights of the year for visitors,” said Alisa Bailey, president and CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corporation.  “We congratulate the regional partners on their successful grant application and for working together for the benefit of the region.”

The Taste of Brunswick Festival is a favorite annual event in Southern Virginia and is highlighted by the World Championship Brunswick Stew Cook-off. Brunswick County was proclaimed the original home of Brunswick Stew by a House Joint Resolution in 1988. Tradition states that the dish dates to 1828 when it was created along the banks of the Nottoway River. The grant will be used to print 3,000 copies of the festival program and to place ads in regional and statewide news outlets.

Tourism is one of Virginia’s most powerful industries that generates $19.2 billion in revenue, supports more than 210,000 jobs and provides $1.2 billion in state and local taxes.

For more information about the Taste of Brunswick Festival and travel and tourism in Virginia, visit www.Virginia.org or call 1-800-VISITVA to request a free Virginia is for Lovers travel guide.

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