DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau is an engine of progress in our region

DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau members Cortney Strohacker, Brad Hoey and Katherine McLaughlin at the 2021 Illinois Governor’s Conference on Travel & Tourism

SMALL BUT MIGHTY

The DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau is an Engine of Progress in Our Region and Beyond

By: Kelley White

DeKalb County is home to wonderful people, beautiful landscapes, and incredible growth potential. As the county continues to evolve, support from the DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau is essential to the success of local businesses and attractions. Executive Director Cortney Strohacker, Marketing Director Katherine McLaughlin and Special Projects Manager Brad Hoey recall the humble beginnings of the DeKalb County CVB and how they tirelessly work to collaborate with local business and attractions while they help boost the economy. “The DCCVB was established 12 to 13 years ago, and the initiative really came from the City of DeKalb and the DeKalb Chamber,” Hoey said. “Debbie Armstrong, who was our longtime director of the DCCVB for 13 years before her retirement in 2019, joined some folks from the DeKalb Chamber and got the DeKalb Area Convention and Visitors Bureau started in 2011. Eleven years ago, the bureau was certified as DeKalb County’s destination marketing organization. It was shortly after that the name changed to DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau.”

The DeKalb County CVB promotes the region’s attractions, events and businesses to highlight the area as a prime place to travel, live and work.

“The value of having a destination marketing organization, which is what the DCCVB is, is getting to market all of our attractions, events, and businesses.”

Hoey credits the Chamber and the selfless devotion of Debbie Armstrong with laying the foundation for DCCVB’s success. “I’ve got to give kudos to not only the city of DeKalb and the Chamber at the time, but also the entire county to be able to move forward and identify that this had been something the county really needed that would benefit our great destinations and the municipalities and attractions,” Hoey said. “I think a lot of credit has to go to Debbie, too. She shouldered a lot of the responsibilities essentially by herself for years.” DCCVB works in tandem with local governments and businesses across the county. It is DeKalb County’s only certified bureau, according to Strohacker. “We work on the behalf of the DeKalb County Government as well as other private stakeholders,” she said. The DCCVB is partially funded through grants from the Illinois Office of Tourism, while other funds come from the county, municipalities and private stakeholders. “It’s really our job to attract travelers, overnight visitors, sports tournaments, meetings, and conventions here to DeKalb County with a target of 55 miles and up,” Strohacker said. An organization like the DCCVB is influential in communities of any size, big or small. “The value of having a destination marketing organization, which is what the DCCVB is, is getting to market all of our attractions, events, and businesses,” Hoey said. “Now, with our affiliation with Opportunity Inbound, DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation, Workforce Development and Workforce Recruitment, we get to promote beyond our borders – all across the region, all across the state of Illinois and to a certain extent, all across the country.” DeKalb County is the DCCVB’s workplace, with their dedicated staff traveling hundreds of miles and laying the groundwork for the county to thrive and continue to prosper. “I think our goal is to make DeKalb County a place to live, work, and enjoy life, and it’s really showing examples of that every day,” Strohacker said. “Number one, being an example as an organization and making sure we work together as a team and emulate the things we look for in other small businesses or nonprofits. Also, getting out and really creating visibility for all of the opportunities here. We don’t spend a lot of time in the office; we are mainly out on the road trying to get all over the 652 square miles of the county, getting down to Sandwich and up to Genoa and everything in between.” The CVB’s highest priority is maintaining a strong relationship with organizations, businesses, and government entities within the county, ensuring their information is accurate and utilized correctly. “We want to make sure we have a good relationship with all the communities within the county so that we’re telling our story correctly and giving the best idea of what the county is as well as being able to represent our county while bringing other people in,” McLaughlin said. “For organizations or anybody within our county, we can offer them a spot on our website. We promote everybody. ... We want to promote everyone because the more that we can offer, more people will come to participate. We want to promote everything that we have, everything that we can offer, all the free splash pads and the state parks and the miles and miles of forest preserves.” The CVB’s website includes an array of recreational options for any interest or inclination. “We have free listings on our website, and we have free listings in our visitors guide – those visitors guides are in eight different tourist information centers throughout the state of Illinois,” McLaughlin said. “There are two in Wisconsin and one in Iowa as well as some at Union Station and Navy Pier. It’s free to be a part of these guides and, like I said, we love to promote everything we have.” Social media plays an integral role in promoting businesses, attractions, and unique local treasures across DeKalb County. “We do features on our social media – we’re out in the county, visiting different communities, and we’re just trying to promote everyone,” McLaughlin said. “As far as people reaching out to us or who we feature, we tell businesses on social media to tag us all the time, just so we can see

what’s going on and we’ll either share it, do our own post with it, or both. The more exposure, the better it is.” McLaughlin said organizations and businesses are welcome to tag the DCCVB on social media for cross-promotion of amenities and events. The goal of the DCCVB is to focus on being the main hub of information for the county, inside and out. Strohacker said one initiative is to aggregate community event calendars so residents and visitors have a one-stop shop to view everything happening across the DeKalb County region. Another initiative is assisting businesses with enticing potential job candidates to the area.

“We’ve helped some of the big corporations coming in right now attract talent and workforce development,” Strohacker said. “As we continue to grow, that need grows as well and we highlight all of those great things about DeKalb County so an employee is going to see how they can live, work, and enjoy life here.” In the future, Strohacker would love to see a brick-and-mortar visitors center come to fruition. “We all have goals for the future. We want to continue to move on the momentum that’s happening right now in DeKalb County, and the best is yet to come,” she said. “Eventually we would love to have an actual visitors center where people can come in and get information, maybe even buy T-shirts. At this point, the sky is the limit, and we want to continue to be a great economic driver for the economy here as well.” After 13 years, DCCVB can tip its hat to the countless hours they’ve put in and the commitment to creating a lasting legacy in their community. “We’re a relatively young bureau compared to our peers throughout the state,” Hoey said. “We are small but mighty. We have a wonderful board and with the cooperation and the support that we get from our municipalities, our partners, and other collaborators, we’ve been able to be quite successful and flourish for a number of years. Hopefully, we’ll get even more support in the future.”

DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Cortney Strohacker presents at the IEDA Summit Chicago on behalf of efforts between DCCVB and Opportunity Unbound.

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