Leon County commissioners unanimously approved moving forward with the IMPACT program, setting aside $250,000 in tourism funding annually to attract major events to college venues.
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Leon County launches tourism fund to attract major events to FSU, FAMU, and Tallahassee State College venues
Leon County commissioners are putting money behind an effort to bring more major events to local college venues after a spring that generated millions of dollars in economic impact.
Commissioners unanimously approved moving forward with the IMPACT program, which sets aside $250,000 in tourism funding each year. Qualifying events at Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee State College could receive up to $50,000 each.
The push comes after two high-profile events at Doak Campbell Stadium earlier this year. The Savannah Bananas drew crowds for a three-day event the county estimates generated more than $10 million in economic impact. A month later, professional bull riding and concerts at the stadium generated more than $2.5 million.
County Commission Chairman Christian Caban said the program is designed to signal to artists and promoters that Tallahassee is open for business.
“I want big artists like that to choose Tallahassee and to choose Leon County. And when you have a local government that is creating a program like this to support our collegiate partners and support events, I think it shows artists, it shows promotion companies that we want you here in Tallahassee. We want you here in Leon County,” Caban said.
Commissioner Nick Maddox said the program could help maximize the potential of the area’s largest venues.
“What I see is a much, much broader potential here for Florida A&M and FSU with those stadiums that we invested so much money to give us that we had hoped that we would get not just for football games, but other stadium events,” Maddox said.
The program is designed to reward events that bring visitors into Leon County, fill local hotel rooms and drive spending at local businesses. Funding is not paid upfront event organizers must meet the county’s requirements before they can be reimbursed.
“The way it works is, in order you know be a good steward of the funds. There’s certain requirements that our collegiate partners will have to abide by: a certain percent of visitors and tickets must be sold to people that live outside of Leon County We’ll backfill the funding, meaning they’ll front the money, and if they meet these requirements on the event, then they can come apply for the impact funding and they can now receive up to $50,000 in funds,” Caban said.
The county still has to finalize exactly how the program will operate. Those guidelines are expected to go before the Tourist Development Council in November before the program comes back to county commissioners for formal adoption on December 8.
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