http://kunr-assets.trinityannex.com/audios/1063_Tourism_grants_final_audio.mp3
The Nevada Commission on Tourism has awarded 145 grants this month totaling nearly one million dollars. KUNR's Michelle Bliss reports that the funding goes toward increasing tourism in rural areas of the state. One of the supported projects is Operation Sierra Storm, a meteorology conference and seminar hosted by the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority. The annual event began two decades ago but has been on hiatus since 2008. Another grant will support the Comstock ATV Jamboree, a new event to be held in Dayton. Commission spokesperson Chris Moran says the funding is offered through the Rural Grants Program, which helps communities market their events and attractions to generate overnight stays. "Some of the projects are like social media and online projects. For example, the Pershing County Chamber of Commerce successfully submitted a grant to upgrade the loverslock.com website to a mobile version and do some search engine optimization. So, basically grant requests are things that have something to do with marketing rural Nevada to visitors." The commission receives a portion of room tax revenue (three-eighths of one percent to be exact) as its operating budget. It disperses these grants twice a year, and recipients must provide a 50-50 match with either funding or volunteer hours. View lists of the grant recipients by region here (scroll to the bottom of the page).
