Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/107253
face time I like how this community thinks of itself in a greater sense, and really aspires to looking at that progressive way of bringing in new ideas to the forefront, and creating a better quality of life for its people. our corporate headquarters left the area we were looking for a way to fill in the gaps. We hired a consultant, (tourism expert and speaker) Roger Brooks, who will be speaking at our tourism breakfast on Feb. 8. He'll be doing an audit of our attractions, identifying potential growth and development. Roger did some secret shopping and identified a lot of things – he really was kind of hard core – and he told us our baby was ugly in some places. But he helped us see that shopping is the big hook. Moving forward, I want to focus a lot on our Tourism Development Fund, which reinvests room tax dollars back into the community. Many of our attractions were funded partially through our grant program. It's unique, really, of any bureau in this state, and quite frankly, in the Midwest. Basically, a portion of room tax dollars are segregated into a grant fund, which was identified first as a capital development fund. We spent about $7 million since 1987, reinvesting back into the community – grants to the Performing Arts Center, USA Youth Sports Complex, the BergstromMahler museum and Fox Cities Stadium, which is under construction. As the program has evolved, we've opened that up to cover other things. One program is called the WOW! Exhibits – it helps our museums bring in signature traveling exhibits – the Da Vinci exhibit at the history museum is our first grantee. I think we need to utilize that program more and also alert the community that this program really helps improve the quality of life here, because a great place to visit is also a great place to live. We'll obviously be focusing on continuing to grow our sports tournament market. That has proven to be a very strong area for us. That is all facility based – you have to have the right facilities to be able to even begin talking to a sports tournament planner or bringing in an event here, and we've been very fortunate in that many of our communities have been supportive of those types of initiatives. I really love the sense of community here. The bureau serves 19 different communities in three counties. We have many municipalities but I think that whole regionalism idea is very strong in the Fox Cities. I like how this community thinks of itself in a greater sense, and really aspires to looking at that progressive way of bringing in new ideas to the forefront, and creating a better quality of life for its people. professionals ...where emerge as leaders. One Master of Business Administration Degree. Two Paths. Professional & Executive. Thinking about getting your MBA? Choose the path that fits your level of experience, career goals and time commitment. Discover how our Professional MBA could be right for you or find out about our new Executive MBA in Appleton starting in Fall 2013. For more information, call 920-424-3199 or toll-free 800-633-1430 or visit uwosh.edu/go/mba. Holly Brenner, BBA '98, MBA '09 Director of Marketing & Business Development Agnesian HealthCare, Fond du Lac 20 | Insight • F e b r u a r y 2 013 w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m