CITY OF NEWBERRY
PRESS RELEASE
For more information, contact: For Immediate Release
City of Newberry
Wendy V. Kinser, Grants Coordinator
(352) 472-3927, x128
wendy.kinser@ci.newberry.fl.us
The City of Newberry Receives Tourism Grant from VISIT FLORIDA
(Newberry, FL) - VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s official source for travel planning, has awarded a $5,000.00 Marketing Grant to The City of Newberry for the 2012-2013 Fiscal Year, which begins July 1, 2012.
“The purpose of these grants is to help non-profit entities and local governments stretch their tourism marketing dollars in an effort to expand cultural, heritage, rural and nature tourism activities in Florida,” said Chris Thompson, President and CEO for VISIT FLORIDA.
“We were quite pleased to learn that VISIT FLORIDA and Enterprise Florida had selected Newberry from such a large number of grant applicants, especially when told this was their most competitive grant cycle to date,” said Keith Ashby, Newberry City Manager. “These funds will be used for development of Newberry’s first smart phone ‘App’ and online streaming production capabilities which will help us better position and market the City of Newberry as a desirable destination for all our many festivals, historic, cultural, rural, nature-based and sports tourism-related experiences . Plus the City is very proud to point out that this grant project is part of a multi-partnership effort; we are working closely with Visit Newberry Florida and Newberry Main Street Organization, Inc.”
VISIT FLORIDA, a private/public partnership, is Enterprise Florida’s day-to-day operating corporation for tourism.
The City of Newberry is located in western Alachua County and home to more than 100 businesses and nearly 5000 residents. This small community attracts tourism in a big way. Newberry offers a variety of activities— home to Easton-Newberry Sports Complex with its internationally-known Olympic-level archery facility; the newly built Nations Baseball Tournament Park with its 16 playing fields; the popular Historic Little Red Schoolhouse and Newberry Historic District; five annual City-wide festivals, including the famous Newberry Watermelon Festival celebrated since 1946.
Partnering with the City of Newberry for this grant is Newberry Main Street, Inc. (NMS), also a VisitFlorida member. First designated a Florida Main Street Community in 2006, NMS is a nonprofit serving the Newberry community through its active downtown redevelopment efforts. Also partnering with the City of Newberry for this grant is local business Visit Newberry Florida. Its VisitNewberryFlorida.com website is dedicated to promoting Newberry and surrounding vicinities to bring tourism to the area.
Visit the City of Newberry’s website: www.ci.newberry.fl.us .
(For more information, contact Wendy Kinser at 352-472-3927, ext. 128 or wendy.kinser@ci.newberry.fl.us .)
