Chamber, Mayor Bennett Release ‘Open for Tourism’ Plans During 2020 City Update
Terre Haute, Ind. – New initiatives and continued plans of improvement were large topics of interest on Wednesday during the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce City Update with Mayor Duke Bennett. The event was sponsored by AT&T Indiana, with supporting sponsors of Terre Haute Regional Airport and Indiana American Water.
The annual first-of-the-year event, which Bennett has been participating for seven years, is geared towards the West Central Indiana business community and Chamber members. Bennett discussed a large variety of topics; infrastructure, city finances, Live PD, recent plans for the city’s convention center and the proposed casino.
“Terre Haute is on a roll,” Bennett said as he wrapped the hour-long speech. “Every community has ebbs and flows and we just have to ride this wave. The key is that we are all working together.”
One major example of groups coming together is the See You In Terre Haute Community Plan, which was unveiled in 2019. Bennett gave a brief recap of the progress already made, saying that former community plans were completed but never implemented. The current plan is moving forward with dedicated co-chairs for each of the eight pillars. Bennett, along with Terre Haute Chamber President Kristin Craig also announced plans for the new “Open for Tourism” initiative, a partnership between Launch Terre Haute, the Indiana Small Business Development Center and the Chamber.
“If you are familiar with the plan, you know that one of the priorities outlines a greater partnership between business development organizations in the community… we are taking an exciting step towards that ultimate goal in the form of a business development program targeted at tourism-related growth,” Craig said.
Within the “Open for Tourism” plan, two objectives have been identified; prepare independent merchants to capitalize on the increased tourism expected with development of casino and convention center and create an impressive experience for Terre Haute guests that will encourage future visits.
Interested businesses, merchants and entrepreneurs should expect the opportunity for free, one-on-one consultations with subject matter experts, additional training on topics like online marketing, scheduling, cooperative marketing and much more.
For more information, visit growterrehaute.com. The site includes additional details, registration information, applications and more.
