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IDA Board Promotes Tourism

By Eugenia Jones
eugenia@highland.net

The McCreary County Industrial Development Authority (IDA) met for their monthly meeting and discussed several tourism related items. With tourism considered a potential economic driver for the county, members are hopeful current tourism promotions will benefit the county.
IDA Director Nathan Nevels noted spoke of several promotional tourism videos filmed in McCreary County. According to Nevels, Daniel McFeeters, the local Seventh Day Adventist pastor, has filmed some outstanding drone videos of local points of interest. The videos can be viewed on McFeeters’ Facebook page. Nevels also said another local, Sean Worley, is doing some great promotional videos for McCreary County on the TikTok phone app. One of the videos includes a narrated tour of Earl Anderson’s Grocery.
Links to some of Worley’s videos are as follows:
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMe6eFaSL
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMe6eYDWP
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMe6JvHCJ
Nevels also discussed Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) which is a group active in economic development in Eastern Kentucky. The group has been active in securing multiple grants for expanding the AppHarvest indoor vegetable growing operations and boosting tourism with the Explore Appalachia advertising campaign in Pikeville and surrounding areas. Nevels has invited the group’s new director, Colby Hall, to visit McCreary County to tour Fibrotex and OVC. Nevels is also pursuing Hall’s input on how to expand tourism and AppHarvest efforts in our area. Nevels designated local farmer, Larry King, and other agricultural representatives to potentially meet with Hall to discuss the possibility of getting an AppHarvest at the McCreary County industrial site. More information about AppHarvest can be found at: hyyps://www.appharvest.com. The Explore Appalachia site videos can be viewed at https://youtu.be/FwJJiAnPFgXo.
McCreary County Judge Executive Jimmie “Bevo” Greene has received confirmation on McCreary County’s eligibility for an economic development and tourism grant from Highland Telephone Cooperative in the amount of $50,000. Once the funds are received, plans include hosting two more Teleworks trainings and job fairs and purchasing computers for McCreary County residents who need up-to-date computers in order to train and secure employment through Teleworks. Residents who receive computers will pay back the costs of the computers on a monthly basis. The remainder of the grant will be spent on tourism-related initiatives. Nevels expressed an interest in using some of the funding to beef up the county’s promotional exhibit at the KY State Fair by increasing the size of McCreary County’s exhibit and making it more interactive.
In other business, the IDA voted to direct funding for credit reports for the loan committee out of the revolving loan account. The board also agreed to “think outside of the box” in coming up with project ideas for spending Tennessee Valley Authority Rural Development Appalachian Project Program (RDAPP) funds.
The McCreary County IDA Board meets regularly on the first Monday of each month at 6:00.

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