Putnam To Take Over Visitors Bureau Operations

Putnam County will take over operations of the Cookeville-Putnam County Visitors Bureau from the Chamber of Commerce September 1.

County Mayor Randy Porter said the Commissioner of the Department of Tourist Development approached the county looking for ways to increase tourism funding. Porter said the new system would not cost the county anything because they already allot a portion of their hotel/motel tax revenue to the bureau each year.

“The state, if we move it over to the county and those folks that work for the chamber come with it, they’re willing to give us an extra $250,000 grant to help with tourism and the Visitors Bureau,” Porter said. “Also we’ll get some other grants that come about.”

Porter said another benefit of the change is Bureau’s Tourism Director Shan Stout will manage the promotion and renting of the new convention center and fairgrounds. He said the county would be gaining three full-time employees and one part-time employee with this takeover.

“They would still operate the same way they’re operating today except they would become their own department under county government inside the Industrial Development Board,” Porter said.

Porter said all of the different committees, boards, and organizations involved or affected by the change think it is a good idea and see it as a win for everyone.

“I talked to the city,” Porter said. “They’re looking at upping their increase above $25,000, but they didn’t have any opposition to it.”

Porter said they will have two years to spend the $250,000 grant, after which they will have to seek additional funding with no guarantees of receiving that same grant again.

Commission Chair Ben Rodgers said the Cookeville-Putnam Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors recommended the ownership change.