Sedalia Tourism Commission Allocates $369,000 in Funds

The Sedalia Area Tourism Commission (SATC) met on Thursday to decide how to distribute annual tourism funds to six local organizations.

The meeting, held at the Katy Depot, 600 E. 3rd, was a follow-up to last week's meeting to hear requests from representatives of the groups, which included SDDI, Missouri State Fair, Scott Joplin Ragtime Foundation, Sedalia Katy Depot, the Sedalia Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Liberty Center Association for the Arts.

Pettis County Presiding Commissioner David Dick is a new member of the SATC. He spoke with KSIS following the meeting:

"Twofold, I would say it was a good educational process for me. I mean, you see things happening, you're not sure what the details are, or the story, and the ability to help them do their jobs, appropriate the money and see where it goes," he said.

A repetitive question during the meeting was how much return there is on investment with SATC funds:

"I think the return on the investment is a lot of times is multi-fold, in this instance, is how many nights do they stay in a motel, or how often do they eat in town, will they come back? You know, that's the other part, some of that's intangible, some of it's very measurable, but I think there's certainly a good return on the investment of these dollars," Dick said.

Dick talked about coordinating efforts between the various groups:

"I think you need them to be coordinated in the fact that the promotional narrative is somewhat similar, and that's to draw people to town to see things, to do different things, but then you want each event to be particular as to what they are to themselves, but the promotional message of the town, come see us, come back, needs to be the same," he said.

Results from Thursday's meeting were announced on Friday, by Deb Biermann, SATC member and liaison with the Convention and Visitors Bureau, who added that the amounts are tentative.

A total of $377,005.38 was tentatively approved for allocation on Thursday, including:

Missouri State Fair - $79,370 (requested $84,175)

Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation - $16,100 (requested $23,450)

Katy Depot - $10,170 (requested $18,640)

Liberty Center Association for the Arts - $19,683 (requested $21,532)

Sedalia Convention & Visitors Bureau - $240,039 (requested $223,608.38)

SDDI - $3,993 (requested $5,600)