Missouri tourism awards grants to Maryville city, chamber

The City of Maryville and the Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce have been selected to receive funding from the Missouri Division of Tourism to enhance tourism efforts.

Each agency will receive funding from the Marketing Platform Development (MPD) program to support projects identified by the local Tourism Committee. The MPD is a competitive 50/50 matching grant program for one-time marketing investments which can be utilized beyond the fiscal year of the initial investment.

The City of Maryville has been awarded $4,014 for website development to further enhance local tourism. The project follows up a strategic partnership with Knacktive at Northwest Missouri State University to develop cohesive branding and development of marketing strategies for Maryville’s tourism efforts. The tourism committee will soon build on the framework provided by the students by selecting a logo for future marketing purposes.

The Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce has been awarded $4,750 to assist in a rebranding effort. The chamber will be working with Chandlerthinks, LLC, a brand consulting firm out of Nashville, TN.

“As we continue to partner with the City of Maryville and many community organizations in the tourism realm, it has become increasingly apparent that we have exciting progress happening,” Executive Director Lily White said. “It’s important that the Chamber puts our best foot forward as a representative of Maryville.”

Both projects selected for Missouri Division of Tourism funding are a result of recent strategic planning efforts by the tourism committee. Funding for the city’s local match will come from the Transient Guest Tax Fund. Establishment of the tourism committee and enhanced tourism related efforts were made possible by voter’s approval of a five percent transient guest tax in November 2016.