Fall in Love With the Byway Awarded Year 2 JEM Grant

The Fall in Love With the Byway promotion, which includes, sections of Highway 55 along the Wolf River in eastern Langlade County, has earned a new round of state support.

For the second year, the Forest County Economic Development Partnership has been awarded a Joint Effort Marketing (JEM) grant, which will provide marketing dollars for the group to collectively promote the scenic byway in a fall campaign that begins on Labor Day and continues through Nov. 2.

The Fall in Love With the Byway promotion is a cooperative effort between Langlade, Forest, Oneida and Vilas counties to promote the Nicolet-Wolf River Scenic Byway, designated as the state’s fifth, and final, scenic byway on Aug. 22, 2017.

The JEM award totals $35,147, and the group will contribute matching funds of $35,147, for a total promotional budget of $70,294.

From Left:  Richard D. Ackley, Jr., Jeff Anderson (Regional Tourism Specialist, Wisconsin Department of Tourism), Keri Beck (Langlade County Economic Development), Mark Ferris ( Forest County Economic Development Partnership), Megan Bachand (Forest County Chamber of Commerce), Cindy Burzinski (Vilas County Tourism) and Jake Godin (Mole Lake Casino)

“We will continue our cooperative effort with the four county destination marketing organizations, including the chambers of commerce and regional tourism entities, to share social media and website promotions, insuring our reach is including all the businesses, historical, cultural, recreational and natural resources that may be found along the Byway,” Mark Ferris, Forest County Economic Development Partnership executive director, said.

The 2018 promotion saw the development of the Nicolet-Wolf River Scenic Byway website (nicoletwolfriverbyway.com), the development of an interactive map and videos showcasing businesses along the byway.

The website welcomed more than 6,000 in 2018, and the Facebook page has more than 5,000 likes.

“We look forward to surpassing the success the campaign had last year, and to continue to work with our regional tourism partners to increase awareness of the Nicolet-Wolf River Scenic Byway,” Ferris added.

The promotion includes pre- and post-surveys to businesses along the byway to share with visitors. Businesses should have received their pre-surveys, and the post-surveys will arrive shortly after the end of the campaign in November.

Source: Nicolet – Wolf River Scenic Byway