Governor Scott Walker stops in Oshkosh to award Oshkosh Convention and Visitors Bureau $37K grant

The check amount was relatively small, but its impact will be big.

That was the message Gov. Scott Walker gave as he awarded a $37,150 Joint Effort
Marketing grant to Oshkosh Convention & Visitor Bureau during a ceremony Tuesday
morning at the Experimental Aircraft Association Museum.

"This will help make Event City a key destination for people around the state, the country and the world," Walker said.

Walker made his remarks standing in front of the Wright Flyer exhibit at the museum, which he described as a wonderful place for the presentation. He listed a number of local events and destinations that regularly bring tourists to the city, including the EAA convention with its connection to domestic and global visitors.

"The essence of is coming to EAA and all the other events. It’s just fun, it’s a good time," he said.

The grant money he gave Tuesday is meant to promote summer and fall travel throughout Winnebago County through advertising. The marketing project is expected to generate an economic impact of $690,000 from overnight travelers and day trippers and "put more heads on
beds," Walker said.

Wendy Hielsberg, executive director of Oshkosh Convention & Visitors Bureau, said tourism is up in Winnebago County because "people want to come here." The CVB expects the grant money to help realize a 9 percent increase in hotel overnight stays compared to last summer and fall.

"This is a mere $37,000 but it does a lot," Walker said. "JEM grants funded 51 projects last year totaling $1.14 million and spending by visitors (made possible by marketing) from these projects exceeded $30 million."

"Tourism is $12 billion industry in Wisconsin and we want to see it grow," Walker said.

As the industry anticipates a summer season with gas at $4 a gallon, locals can hope that people in Wisconsin forgo trips to South Dakota and other far-off destinations in favor of staying in their own back yards, Walker said.

Oshkosh has plenty to offer, he said, in such events as Irishfest, the Miss Wisconsin pageant, Country USA, Sawdust Days, the U.S. Open Volleyball Tournament, Lifest, Rock USA, EAA AirVenture, Deerfest and Oktoberfest.

"The Oshkosh CVB is thrilled to have received this year-2 JEM grant," Hielsberg said.

The money will help pay for advertising the city’s new brand, Wisconsin’s Event City. JEM grants are available to nonprofit organizations for the promotion of Wisconsin tourism events and destinations. The state can fund up to 75 percent of a project’s first year advertising and marketing costs and provides support for second and third year projects, but with decreasing amounts for funding each year until the projects become self-sustaining, according to a news release from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.

Reported by:  TheNorthwestern.com