VMI turning its focus to strategic planning for future

He said it’s not so much what VMI invests in tourism, but also the community. “You can go all-in on sports tourism, you can go all-in on group travel like tour buses, you can go all-in on music. Luckily, Madison has a lot of areas you can go all-in on. So, we’ve just got to prioritize.”

And that brings the group back to the importance of strategic planning.

Jim Bartlett, who is a member of both the VMI board and the Jefferson County Board of Tourism, said strategic planning is the reason why the three-year operations contract between VMI and JCBT “is so important because it’s hard to do a three-year or five-year plan without a sustainable contract. That three-year contract is there as a foundation to build on.”

In other business:

• The process is underway for selection of a new marketing associate. Sarah Prasil, VMI’s executive marketing director, said there were 16 candidates that have been narrowed to three that are being called for second interviews. “We’re excited to be moving towards that goal really soon,” she said.

Additionally, there will be two interns over the summer that will have specific projects assigned to them.

• Lucy Dattilo, who is leading the effort on the establishment of a motor trail that will bring visitors to Jefferson County, said she expects to have a solid timeline for when it’s going to happen by next month’s VMI meeting. The effort involves establishing the trail’s path, along with creating maps, signage and website, plus marketing.