Advertising commission denies farmers market grant

Discover Bella Vista, the city’s advertising and promotion commission, approved funding guidelines and strategies during its Thursday, July 19, meeting. The commission also declined the farmers market funding request for sponsorship.

The guidelines were generated by Jim Fram with Community Growth Strategies, LLC, a

consultation firm hired by the commission to create strategies for the commission.

“It gives some very clear direction as to the type of information you all want,” he said. “This is a road map, not a bible.”

The strategies focus on financial accountability, business development, promotions and partnerships, he said.

Fram suggested a cap on the commission’s grant spending when preparing the annual budget. It’s important to avoid giving out all that money to any one group, he said.

Fram said one of the bigger challenges facing Bella Vista is awareness. People simply don’t know the city is here, he said, and those

who do may still see it as a retirement community.

Another, he said, is the lack of a hotel. The commission would do well to work on attracting one, he said, because lodging can be difficult to get in the area already and having a hotel in town would allow Bella Vista to host major events.

It’s also important, he said, to focus on promoting things that are big in Bella Vista. The Back 40, golf and weddings, he said, are some of the community’s top products.

Commissioner Doug Fowler said he was happy with what he saw.

“I think you focused on the right things,” he said.

The commission also heard a request for sponsorship funds from the Bella Vista Farmers Market.

The request was to reimburse the market for $1,500 that was spent on a sponsorship agreement with Live Love Events.

Market manager Samantha Mosher said this sponsorship gets the market some exposure by placing the market logo on promotional materials and billboards for events as a sponsor.

Her goal with the market this year, she said, is to get the word out so people throughout the area know it’s here.

“I have to let people know that we’re even there,” she said.

Nakia Gully, proprietor of Live Love Events, said that the market would appear alongside other sponsors on shirts and other material and the market will get a booth at some events.

Commissioner Tom Judson said he wasn’t sure this is a good use of

advertising dollars.

“I have a little concern about it. That logo on a billboard is not going to be very visible,” he said. “Everything else in that billboard is going to catch your attention.”

Fowler said that while he is in favor of working to boost the market, he thinks there’s probably a better way.

“I just don’t know if this is it,” he said. “Is there something bigger and better that we could do?”

No motion was made and no funds were given.

The commission also discussed an agreement that would see Airbnb collecting the advertising and promotion tax and pursuing similar agreements with similar services.