• Continued to establish momentum as a sports destination, assisting with numerous events, including Cub Mountain Ride to the Sky, Baja SAE, Mayhem for Mustard Seed Ranch( CrossFit), Iron Eagle Challenge( CrossFit), Cummins Falls Marathon, and various other local events.
• Hosted 3rd Annual Hometown Champions Night at Tennessee Tech University’ s Hooper-Eblen Center, the signature showcase for the sports council in honoring athletic excellence in Putnam County. Marynell Meadors served as keynote speaker for the evening. The former Tennessee Tech Women’ s Basketball Coach received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Upperman High School was awarded the Hometown Champions Cup.
2016 TOURISM ECONOMIC IMPACT a. b. c. d.
e.
$ 122.15 MILLION in direct tourism expenditures $ 18.68 MILLION in payroll income $ 2.53 MILLION in local tax revenue Ranking 16 th out of 95 counties in the state for tourism expenditure levels As a result of taxes generated by tourist activity in Putnam County, each household pays $ 338.51 LESS in local and state taxes.
• Hosted a successful TSSAA BlueCross Bowl for an eighth consecutive year. The state high school football championships have unofficially dubbed Cookeville the“ capital of Tennessee high school football.” Over 40,000 visitors were welcomed to Putnam County over a three-day period with an estimated economic impact of $ 2.5 million. Community support and a team effort involving more than 750 volunteers continue to offer the hospitality that allows Cookeville to be honored with hosting privileges. The visitors’ bureau led efforts in bid proposal submission and presentation preparations for continued BlueCross Bowl hosting rights through 2020.
• Continued to serve as host for the Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association’ s Toyota East vs. West Tennessee All-Star Classic at TTU. A recognition night was hosted to honor the players with keynote speaker Coach Ron Lambert. Former University of Tennessee quarterback Sterling Hinton provided a motivational talk with players on game day.
• Attended the National Association of Sports Commissions Symposium in Grand Rapids, MI. Met with various sports event organizers and attended professional development seminars for best practices.
• Continued Play Tennessee partnership with sports tourism representatives from across the state as well as TDTD. The statewide sports association has a goal of providing a unified sports tourism effort for recruitment of sporting events to Tennessee while also providing networking, educational, marketing, economic impact research / data opportunities.
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