Area Businesses Enthused by Heritage Plan

By: Asa Fitch

Litchfield County Times - 04/21/2005

As a proposed National Heritage Area that would stretch from Southwestern Massachusetts into Northwestern Connecticut moves closer to receiving federal approval, business owners from the region met this week to discuss how the designation could boost the regional economy.

While the primary purpose of the heritage area, to be called the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, would be to link cultural and historic sites in and around the Housatonic River Valley, one byproduct could be a major boost in business for the region.

According to a study put out a year ago by the National Park Service, the heritage area will inject an additional $8 million per year into the region as long-range travelers, day-trippers and locals explore its history and culture. The visitors-around 150,000 of them annually-are expected to spend lots of money at gift shops, restaurants, inns and other businesses.
"The purpose of the National Heritage Area is to celebrate the natural, historical and cultural assets of this area, but a neat byproduct of this is economic activity," Dan Bolognani, the director of sales and marketing at the Interlaken Inn in Lakeville, said at the Tuesday meeting, held at the inn and sponsored by the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce and the Tri-State Chamber of Commerce.

As treasurer of the board of directors of the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, Inc., a group that is to oversee activities in the heritage area once it is created, Mr. Bolognani said he had paid special attention to the economic repercussions of the designation. The heritage area could be just what the region needs, he said. It would bring in additional visitors, but not so many that small local roads become clogged with tourists.

"A heritage area could provide economic benefits even if visitation did not increase significantly," Mr. Bolognani said. "A heritage traveler is a well-heeled customer. They stay longer, and they're not afraid of rates. They fill up their gas tank and shop at the gift shop. This is not a theme park."

According to National Park Service estimates, the heritage area, once fully operational, would bring in 150,000 people, or 80,000 "visitor parties" of around two people each. Around 50,000 of those parties would stay overnight, and the remaining 30,000 would be day-trippers. The economic benefits of this influx go beyond the expected $8 million in direct spending at businesses that tourists frequent. As one sector of the economy becomes richer, so do the sectors that serve it.

"There would also be indirect expenditures in the local area made by businesses serving tourists," the National Park Service study says. "According to Massachusetts data, 66 cents is spent on secondary sales for every dollar of direct tourist expenditures. Every $1 million in tourist expenditures creates 29 jobs. Based on these assumptions, the $8,040,000 in direct tourism expenditures would produce an additional $5,396,000 in indirect expenditures and 233 jobs. This is an estimate based upon conservative assumptions."

The potential for an economic boom associated with the heritage area proposal is not lost on Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce members and officials.

After the meeting Tuesday, Jane Pinckney, a member of the chamber's board of directors, said the heritage area would likely help many organizations, including the chamber. It may also help her own business, a folk art and garden design business in Lakeville called Highlights, she said. John Hedbavny, the executive director of Camp Sloane in Lakeville, run by the YMCA, said the heritage area could help his organization by giving parents who drop their children off at camp an interesting side-trip.

Proponents of the heritage area are optimistic that the proposal will become a reality this year. To establish a heritage area, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate must approve a bill creating it, and President George W. Bush must sign the bill. Last year, the House approved the bill, and the Senate tagged it onto an intelligence reform bill, but Congress ratified the House's version of that bill, and so the Senate never officially gave it its blessing.

"I talked to the legislators, and they seemed to feel we should have been designated last year, but we think we'll get it this year," Ron Jones, the president of the heritage area's board of directors, said Tuesday.  Once the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area becomes an official entity-it will likely be the 23rd such area in the nation-the federal government is to supply up to $1 million per year for 10 years in matching grants to the region. The money would go toward producing signs and brochures and running educational programs and other activities that promote the region as a heritage area. Some money would also go toward administration and historical preservation efforts.

According to Mr. Jones, the heritage area is already running educational programs for local teachers and walking tours of historic sites. It has also produced a brochure that showcases old iron industry sites throughout the region. He said the heritage area could only work if it reaches out to businesses in the region, and on Tuesday he invited business leaders to join in the effort to establish the heritage area and support it once it exists. "You all are the key to achieving this goal," he said. "We'd like you to be part of it, and we'd like you to talk to each other. The heritage areas that have been successful have had corporate partners. We want to bring what we're doing into your world."