Group dedicated to Jackson’s growth holds monthly meeting

JACKSON, Tenn. – The Community Economic Development Commission met Tuesday at the Greater Jackson Chamber.

The commission held their monthly meeting to discuss business being conducted by the Destination Marketing Organization for the City of Jackson and Madison County. 

“Visit Jackson is governed by the Community Economic Development Commission and our commissioners oversee our offices. They help to guide us as we formulate new plans and marketing initiatives,”  said Lori Nunnery, the CEO of Visit Jackson, TN.

This monthly meeting discusses financials and future projects that the Visit Jackson, TN organization have in store. 

“We are involved in several marketing campaigns. So we review those with the board members. We also review initiatives, we talk about our Jackson Hidden Tracks campaign. So there’s a wide breadth of activities that we’re involved in that this meeting goes through the approval process with our commissioners,” Nunnery said.

The Visit Jackson, TN’s goal is to attract visitors to stay in Jackson’s hotels since they are funded in part by the hotel/motel taxes.

 “Our goal is to attract people and it’s also to improve the quality of life of Jacksonians. So what we do is we help to market events and activities that are being conducted that would be attractive to a tourist,” Nunnery said.

Out of those taxes collected, 40 percent goes to the city’s general fund, 40% goes to the county’s general fund, and the organization operates off the remaining 20%.

“When we’re able to attract visitors to come stay here, not only does it generate hotel tax but it generates sales tax. And if you look at our hotels, which we have nearly 3,000 rooms, it generates property tax. There’s a significant impact. And with the new projects that are on our horizon, we’re looking forward to a really bright future,” Nunnery said.

Although their goal is to attract tourists to the Hub City, they also support events locally.

“We also support throughout the year 15 different events that ranges from the Firefighters Freedom Festival to the Andrew Jackson Marathon, to host different activities including the Tennessee Songwriters Week,” Nunnery said.

Find more local news here.