Registration opens for conference on tourism, recreation News from the Montana Department of Commerce
HELENA — The Montana Department of Commerce has announced that registration is open for the 2022 Montana Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Recreation. The event will be held in Billings, April 17-19, at the DoubleTree by Hilton and Great Northern hotels. The conference is Montana’s annual gathering of private and public sector partners in the tourism and recreation industries in Montana. “While the past two years have been extraordinarily challenging for the world, we’re beginning to emerge and examine things in a new light. If 2020 and 2021
taught us one thing, it’s that we must embrace change to be successful,” Commerce Director Scott Osterman said. “This year’s conference will feature presentations on what’s changed in the travel and recreation spaces, and how to create nimble, forward-looking strategies for Montana’s tourism businesses, organizations, and communities,” Osterman added. Registration is limited; sign up quickly to ensure seating. Early bird registration pricing ends on April 1, when the standard conference attendee registration increases to $249. There will be no walk-in registration for this conference. This is an in-person event only; no virtual options will be avail-
Wellness Visit?
Ronan revitalization works toward future projects By Taylor Davison Valley Journal
MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
The conference will offer breakout sessions for additional opportunities for discussion
able. Featured conference speakers will include nationally acclaimed marketing and customer experts Peter Shankman, Shawna Suckow, and Sarah Elkins. Sherry Rupert, who represents the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA), will present. An annual update from Commerce’s Brand MT Marketing team will round out the
offerings. Separate breakout sessions with Suckow, Elkins, and a Tribal Tourism roundtable will offer attendees additional opportunities for more in-depth discussions. Conference attendees will be invited to a “Welcome to the Trailhead of Awesome” event on April 17, sponsored by Visit Billings. For more information and to register, visit marketmt.com.
RONAN — The Ronan Revitalization Committee met on Tuesday, March 22 to learn more about the Montana Main Street program (MMS). According to guest presenters Taylor Crowl and Mackenzie Espeland from the program, Ronan was the only town to be accepted this year thanks to the efforts already made by the community toward downtown improvement. Now the program will meet Ronan where it’s at to help move forward with both funding assistance and improvement ideas. The Main Street program focuses on four main points: economic vitality, design, promotion, and organization. One main goal of the committee is to find projects that tie in all four elements. Several examples of projects in other locations were given during the presentation that could potentially be implemented in Ronan. Helena has Alive at 5, a live music event held at different downtown locations every Wednesday evening in the summer, that can be used as a good fundraising and volunteer engagement event for the community. A Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, such as exists in Polson, was also given
as an example to help reinvest in façade improvements, as well as create a more vibrant, welcoming, and visually interesting downtown environment to draw more people in. The next planned steps for the committee will be to do a downtown walkthrough along with MMS staff to explore potential and promising directions for the town, as well as put together a presentation workshop in early summer to explore ideas. The revitalization committee will also work on devising a workplan for the next year to begin putting projects in motion. There will also be a Montana Downtown Conference in Billings on April 6-8 where Main Street communities will gather and share what is being done across the state to improve local communities. Based on the inspiration given during the meeting, the committee will be brainstorming potential projects to improve downtown Ronan with costs of around $10,000 that they would like to tackle first. The revitalization committee, a subcommittee of the Ronan Area Chamber of Commerce, is actively seeking out two additional board members to help with future projects. To learn how to become a participant, call 406-676-8300, or visit ronanchamber.com.
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March 30, 2022 - 7
