LOCK HAVEN — Clinton County was truly the place to be recently, as a multitude of local and national oriented events took place. All of which had a positive economic impact for local businesses.
“Even a single event has an impact on our economy,” said Clinton County Tourism Director Julie Brennan. “But, there was a major spike this past week with several multi-day happenings all over Clinton County, and the economic impact was huge.”
The area’s newest, albeit familiar, event was the United States Canoe Association’s national races that saw visitors from all over the country, and even the world, flocking to Clinton County for nearly an entire week. The county previously hosted this race in 2014 along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River at the Lockport Boat Launch.
According to race directors Deb and Dan Glover, 132 people participated in the five-day event Wednesday through Sunday, with 24 states represented and two countries – Canada and Australia.
“All of the paddlers expressed how much they enjoyed our area and how beautiful our river was,” Deb said. “They were very impressed with how clean our river is compared to some other bodies of water that they have paddled.”
Brennan said the Clinton County Economic Partnership conducted a survey amongst the paddlers during their stay.
The survey revealed most traveled more than 200 miles to the county and brought at least one to two people.
“The majority stayed three to four nights, most ate at local establishments and a number participated in other events, went to the movies, Piper Museum, Amish Shops, Unkel Joe’s Woodshed and more,” Brennan said.
The survey showed that many not only spent money to register for the event, along with food and lodging, but also shopping as well.
“There were many compliments for the race directors and volunteers, about the beautiful area, with most participants saying they plan to return in the future,” she said.
The Glover’s thanked all the volunteers for their efforts throughout the race, as well as sponsors, the YMCA of Lock Haven, Woodward Township, Clinton County Government, the Clinton County Recreation Advisory Committee, Dunnstown Fire Company and Citizen Hose Company.
“All of the support that we received was greatly appreciated by us and by the people who attended the USCA Nationals,” Deb said.
Deb told The Express the participants noted how friendly people were and how they enjoyed the LH JAMS Festival which ran concurrently with the races in downtown Lock Haven.
“With all of the positive comments that we have received, I feel that the event was a huge success,” Deb said.
Brennan said the festival also served as a boon for the weekend, along with the Kettle Creek Music Festival at Quiet Oaks Campground in Cross Fork.
Brennan said the LH JAMS Festival — in its eighth year and organized by the Clinton County Arts Council — brought close to 3,000 people over the course of three days. It also featured nine bands, 18 artists and nine food and drink vendors, too.
“Proceeds support the CCAC, as well as the CCAC-established Jeff Gummo Memorial Scholarship for the Arts given to a local high school student pursuing higher education studies in the arts,” she said.
The Kettle Creek Music Festival, which also ran Thursday through Friday, also saw about 3,000 people – one of its largest crowds to date, Brennan said.
The event featured 13 bands, 45 craft vendors, 10 food vendors and 10 nonprofit vendors with 300 RVs and another 75 camper sites filled for the weekend.
The event, created in 2000 shifted into a non-profit in 2013 and donates more than $81,000 to local fire, ambulance, boy scouts and military veteran support foundations.
Brennan noted the West Branch Soccer Club held two events last week — a youth day camp that drew 162 participants and its second annual 3v3 Color Fun Soccer Tournament that saw 30 more teams take part than last year and drew a thousand spectators.
The Clinton County Speedway also hosted two days of racing — its regular races on Friday night and a special Saturday afternoon race. Brennan noted many of the teams spend the weekend in local hotels, especially in nearby Lamar, and others camp on-site at the Clinton County Fairgrounds.
Brennan said the financial impact from these events falls into three categories: pre-event purchases such as promotion and advertising, t-shirts/swag, water, supplies and other items; local businesses such as hotel, campground, BnB and state park lodging; and dining at restaurants, fast food places, gas stations, grocery and convenience stores, retail shopping, sightseeing or participating in other activities/events, and on and on); to the post event impact on the various nonprofits who benefit from the event proceeds, and the impact of people who had a great experience and come back to the area again and again.
Brennan said the majority of local lodging was at full-capacity or near capacity throughout the week.
“Finally, it takes a ton of volunteers to carry out these events. Our local volunteers are so welcoming — we always get feedback that it’s the volunteers that ‘make’ the event,” Brennan said. “Lock Haven University athletic teams and students in general can be counted among those helping — they support everything from parking, set-up and tear-down, to refereeing youth sports. We hear ‘beautiful area, great people’ a lot!”
Credit: Source link