Collaborative efforts will help nearly 90 businesses recover and thrive in 2021.
January 6, 2021. Tillamook, Oregon. Like no other year, 2020 was hard on many tourism-related businesses. Lodging closed for nearly three months, restaurants were forced multiple times into takeout only or very limited capacity, small commercial fisheries and farms lost as much as 75% of their customer base, and retail went online or curbside service only. The economic impact to these industry sectors was significant.
That’s when the Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) reached out to Tillamook Coast Visitors Association (Visit Tillamook Coast), offering assistance to local businesses with a $100,000 match for the grant round of $100,000 that the tourism organization offers each year.
“TCCA’s Hometown Resilience Fund has been so generous in so many ways, providing financial support and product donations to organizations in Tillamook County to help our businesses, nonprofits and social services,” said Nan Devlin, executive director of Tillamook Coast Visitors Association (TCVA). “This match to our annual marketing grant meant we could more fully help businesses recover and thrive in 2021.”
The Marketing Renewal Grant encouraged applicants to collaborate with other businesses on marketing efforts in 2021. Applicants submitted impact statements on how COVID had affected their businesses, and what they were doing to recover and sustain. A marketing plan with goals, tactics and metrics, as well as a realistic budget, were also required in the submission. This helped the reviewers, the board of directors of TCVA, to score and rank submissions and make recommendations for funding.
Of the 16 grant applicants/recipients, all are collaborating with local tourism-related businesses, bringing the impact of the marketing grants to nearly 90 businesses in Tillamook County.
The recipients include: Blue Siren Shellfish, Offshore Grill, Oregon Coastal Flowers, Garibaldi Portside Bistro, Garibaldi Maritime Museum, Kayak Tillamook, The Winery at Manzanita, North Fork 53, Ocean Inn, Oregon Beach Ceremonies, Nehalem Bay Winery, Garibaldi Charters, Wild Manzanita, Oregon Coast Today, Lucky Beach Boutique, and Tillamook Chamber of Commerce. The list of projects can be viewed at tillamookcoast.com/industry