Tourism board hopeful for grant-match funds

The Town of Pahrump’s tourism committee went before the Nye Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday to discuss applying for several state grants for tourism-based projects.

There are six grants total being requested by the tourism committee, which equal out to a total grant match of $128,000.

“We haven’t gotten the grants approved yet by the commission on tourism department, the state department, so really it’s just a protocol right now,” said Arlette Ledbetter, Pahrump tourism director. We go before the board of county commissioners to request matching grant funds. So we don’t know if we’ll get those grants from the state until about May.”

The six grants are for various amounts and will be used for different aspects of promoting tourism for the town.

Those include: $2,500 will go toward certified folder display for brochure distribution, $5,500 for advertising in the Good Sam Travel Guide, targeting RV resorts, $91,500 for use in regional media buying, $13,000 for public relations work, $9,000 for travel trade shows, with the purpose of seeking to add consumer shows, and $6,000 for increasing exposure via Nevada Magazine.

These funds are vital to the tourism board, as they allow them to reach out to potential tourists in a way they would not be able to without the monetary aid.

“They’re always really, really important,” Ledbetter said. “Grant-matching funds enable us to do the projects that we do.”

Last year the tourism committee received 13 grants totaling $58,000, which they used toward various projects which Ledbetter said yielded successful results.

This is the 12th year that the Nevada Commission on Tourism will match grant funds with Nye County. The money requested in the grants is recommended to come from Pahrump tourism room tax funds.