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Explore Altoona, county award grants

The Blair County Arts Foundation plans to do some extra marketing to attract people to the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Blair County Arts Festival from May 20-21 at Penn State Altoona.

The arts foundation received a $4,000 tourism grant Thursday through the County of Blair Tourism Grant Program, a partnership between the Blair County commissioners and Explore Altoona.

That money will be invested in outdoor advertising, cable television commercials and print ads in the suburban Maryland and Washington, D.C., market.

The grants committee has also approved an investment of up to an additional $3,000 in various marketing placements for Explore Altoona to promote the festival as its destination marketing partner, said Mark Ickes, Explore Altoona executive director.

“It is very difficult for us to allocate as much money to marketing. This helps us to get into markets in Virginia and Maryland and outlying Pennsylvania counties. This is certainly a bonus for us,” foundation Executive Director Kate Shaffer said.

The arts foundation was one of 12 nonprofit organizations selected to receive part of a record $41,848 that was distributed, the highest amount to be awarded since the grant program began in 2006. Over the past 10 years, more than $220,000 has been awarded to Blair County’s nonprofit tourism assets for various marketing efforts, Ickes said.

“This is our 10th anniversary, and the figure represents a 49-percent increase over last year’s distribution. This is definitely a celebration,” Ickes said.

The purpose of the grant program is to offer financial assistance to enhance marketing efforts of Blair County’s nonprofit tourism assets. The goal is to generate overnight stays in Blair County and contribute to the impact of travel spending on Blair County’s business community. The grant program supports cultural, historical and recreational assets. The program has given many organizations the opportunity to market to visitors outside the region, Ickes said.

Three of the 12 organizations are first-time recipients.

The Hollidaysburg Community Partnership and P&J Productions each received $4,000.

The partnership will focus on the redevelopment of digital interpretive exhibits at Canal Basin Park’s Reiser House, which showcase canal history, Hollidaysburg’s architectural heritage and other educational material for all ages.

P&J will invest its grant in an email-based campaign that will allow the selection of a very specific target demographic, and comes with an activity guarantee. “We are very excited to be one of the new recipients. This allows us to expand our services to the community,” said Hollidaysburg Main Street Manager Mike Balchin.

“Our grant will be used to market outside the county to encourage other people to come and see our shows. It is a great thing. We get a lot of visitors from outside the area. We think this will be great for central Pennsylvania,” said Neil Port, co-producer of P&J Productions.

Friends of Canoe Creek State Park received $1,987.50 to be utilized to implement a plan to develop a professionally produced commercial, which will highlight all of the best experiences that Canoe Creek has to offer.

“For us, it is another way we can provide a service to the park. It brings us a new way to advertise and bring them into the park and show them what the park as to offer,” Treasurer Chris DeAntonio said.

Other grant recipients include:

– A Quaint Corner Children’s Museum & Discovery Center, $1,705.56

– Allegheny Ridge Corp., $3,725

– Altoona Community Theatre Inc., $4,000

– Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum, $3,972

– Altoona Symphony Orchestra, $4,000

– Blair County Historical Society, $3,755

– Fort Roberdeau Historic Site, $3,703

– Hollidaysburg Area YMCA, $3,000

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