MONROE - The City of Monroe Visitor and Promotion Board met Thursday for the third time this year, to consider requests for funding.
The board had about $13,900 cash in its fund balance to use for new grants.
Big Brothers Big Sisters for Green County was granted $750 for a portion of its promotion costs in print for the Tour de Cheese bike event set for Saturday. About 40 riders had registered for the event. The organization spent $1,000 in advertising.
Green County Cheese Days was granted $8,000 to cover a portion of its advertising costs of about $16,000. Cheese Days used print, radio, billboards, web presence and other publicity outlets.
Big Radio failed to garner a majority of votes for its offer to produce and air 30-second radio spots during the fourth quarter of 2014. The company initially requested $6,000. A second motion by Tom Miller, seconded by Bill Ross, to spend $3,000 for radio ads also failed to pass.
Green County Model Railroaders presented its preliminary request for funding. The organization spent a total of $3,000 in advertising and will return to the board with a breakdown of attendees' hometowns to verify meeting the funding guidelines. The model railroad show Sept. 27-28 brought 900 people to the SLICE arena, according to Newton Keenen, representing the organization. The organization used door prize tickets, asking attendees to write their city and state of residence on them, to determine the likelihood that they stayed overnight in a Monroe motel or bed-and-breakfast.
The Visitor and Promotion Board funding comes from a 4 percent room tax paid by overnight visitors to the city's motels. So far this year, room taxes have totaled $53,600.
The board had about $13,900 cash in its fund balance to use for new grants.
Big Brothers Big Sisters for Green County was granted $750 for a portion of its promotion costs in print for the Tour de Cheese bike event set for Saturday. About 40 riders had registered for the event. The organization spent $1,000 in advertising.
Green County Cheese Days was granted $8,000 to cover a portion of its advertising costs of about $16,000. Cheese Days used print, radio, billboards, web presence and other publicity outlets.
Big Radio failed to garner a majority of votes for its offer to produce and air 30-second radio spots during the fourth quarter of 2014. The company initially requested $6,000. A second motion by Tom Miller, seconded by Bill Ross, to spend $3,000 for radio ads also failed to pass.
Green County Model Railroaders presented its preliminary request for funding. The organization spent a total of $3,000 in advertising and will return to the board with a breakdown of attendees' hometowns to verify meeting the funding guidelines. The model railroad show Sept. 27-28 brought 900 people to the SLICE arena, according to Newton Keenen, representing the organization. The organization used door prize tickets, asking attendees to write their city and state of residence on them, to determine the likelihood that they stayed overnight in a Monroe motel or bed-and-breakfast.
The Visitor and Promotion Board funding comes from a 4 percent room tax paid by overnight visitors to the city's motels. So far this year, room taxes have totaled $53,600.