The six chambers of the White Mountains Region received $295,000 in Chamber of Commerce Partnership Assistance funding from the NH Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery. The funds are to be used to work with Ski NH and the White Mountains Attractions Association on programs to provide relief to the White Mountain region.
The programs will focus on promoting tourism, workforce recruitment, Covid education, and PPE supplies distribution to Franconia, Jackson, Littleton, Lincoln/Woodstock, Twin Mountain/Bretton Woods and the Mt. Washington Valley chambers. The initiation of this regional marketing among the six chambers and associations represents a new partnership that will reach into the future.
Representatives from White Mountains Attractions Association, Ski NH and the Mt Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce spearheaded the development and funding for three programs described below, and the region’s additional chambers signed on. The Mt Washington Valley Chamber will serve as the funding administrator of the multi-part campaign on behalf of the entire group, while individual chambers and associations will focus in on participation and oversight of the three programs.
The White Mountains 100-mile Challenge will encourage visitors to experience local businesses and neighborhoods in a regional 100 item “scavenger hunt” that encourages socially distanced travel and encourages business transactions at member businesses. Visitors will compete for prizes by visiting a number of the 100 suggested stops and uploading photos and their results to WhiteMts100MileChallenge.com. Social Media channels, social hashtags, and posted reviews will help further promote these regions and the chamber members.
Workforce Recruitment Program will identify potential recruitment tools for finding and hiring a workforce for the Fall and Winter seasons. The program is dedicated to developing means to increase the number of applications the business community in the White Mountains can consider and to work with recruiting offices, the New England States to develop relationships for sharing job information and to identify lodging options for workers, and coordinate with other larger job portals in Northern New England.
Covid Guidelines, Required PPE and Related Educational Needs will identify PPE needs or previous expenditures of businesses, source items such as masks (cloth and surgical), sanitation wipes, hand sanitizer and gloves, identify public restroom, signage, trash, parking and shuttle needs, and provide financial support for the businesses that are members of the six chambers and associations to assist in covering their PPE needs.
In addition, through this grant educational resources for visitors and businesses will be developed via a promotional campaign called Granite State Safe. The materials and advertising for this campaign will aim at educating out-of-state and in-state visitors on the best practices for traveling to and around New Hampshire during this time. Learn more at https://www.granitestatesafe.com.
The outcome of the collaboration between the White Mountains region chambers and associations will build the alliance needed for future cooperative projects. To learn more about the program and each chambers’ involvement contact any of the participating members listed below.
White Mountains Attractions Association
Mt Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce
Franconia Notch Regional Chamber of Commerce
Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce
Littleton Area Chamber of Commerce
Current Issue - April 2024