Summer 2015
Connections
www.nebcommfound.org
Capitalizing on Hometown Heritage Red Cloud is home to a world-class cultural asset: the childhood home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather – the primary setting for many of her works – and the nation’s largest collection of historic sites that are dedicated to a single American author. Since 1955, Red Cloud has been the headquarters for the Willa Cather Foundation which provides a variety of programs that encourage more than 8,000 enthusiasts to visit each year. Nebraska Community Foundation worked with the Red Cloud Community Foundation Fund to use one of the community’s most important assets – the Willa Cather heritage – to begin developing other heritage tourism assets in the area. By developing diverse opportunities for tourism, Red Cloud has the potential to generate dozens of new jobs and millions of dollars in economic Red Cloud is focusing on heritage tourism as an impact each year. economic development strategy. Some people are surprised to learn that tourism is Nebraska’s third largest industry, cultural assets to a much greater degree. Dennis Hansen, chair of the Red Cloud bringing in over $3.3 billion annually. Few Community Foundation Fund shares of our rural communities, however, have his vision for the future: “Through a as great an opportunity to use heritage combined effort from the City of Red tourism as a primary focus for economic Cloud, Red Cloud Chamber of Commerce, development as Red Cloud. Willa Cather Foundation, Nebraska Red Cloud has always had this Community Foundation, Red Cloud opportunity, but it required time, trust Community Foundation Fund and and charitable investment to put a plan especially our donors, we will be able to and the people in place to capitalize on it. use our heritage tourism assets that are Fortunately, Red Cloud has, over the already in place, and from them, grow years, built an unrestricted endowment new endeavors to create more jobs and to provide financial support to explore have a positive economic impact for Red these opportunities. Cloud.” Critical to moving forward was You can learn more about efforts to conducting a feasibility study which was catalyze heritage tourism by watching funded by the Red Cloud Community Red Cloud’s community video at Foundation Fund. The study found that vimeo.com/115581298. n the community could be leveraging its
Leading Change NCF and the Red Cloud Community Foundation Fund have partnered to utilize heritage tourism as an economic development strategy: >F acilitated multiple action planning sessions in 2012. > I dentified heritage tourism as a key economic development opportunity. >F unded a study to analyze the economic impact potential of a robust heritage tourism program. > I nformed the community that significant tourism expansion could generate $3.5 million in new economic activity which could lead to an economic impact of $6 million each year. >D eveloped an action plan that called for the hiring of a heritage tourism development director. >W orked with two NCF donor-advised funds to contribute a combined $500,000 to the Red Cloud Community Foundation Fund for heritage tourism. >C reated a collaborative agreement whereby the City of Red Cloud, Chamber of Commerce and Red Cloud Community Foundation Fund provide a total of at least $150,000 per year for five years to implement the action plan, with the Willa Cather Foundation employing a new heritage tourism director and support staff. >T he Willa Cather Foundation hired a native son, Jarrod McCartney, as Red Cloud’s heritage tourism development director. n
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