First Randolph County national ad appears
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The first ad in the Randolph County Progress Committee's national campaign is in circulation and online. The ad promotes tourism and economic development for Randolph County. According to Chris Martin, coordinator of economic development for Randolph County, the ad design has multiple purposes. "We wanted to design an ad that caught people's attention first," says Martin. "We want to draw the reader to the page so they spend time reading our messages, which are two. The first is to illustrate the outstanding attributes Randolph County has that will attract companies to start or expand here."
The ad mentions logistics like the ports of the Kaskaskia Regional Port District and rail options. The Randolph County workforce is also lauded and the ad includes interior photos of the laboratory at Gilster-Mary Lee's marshmallow/shredded wheat plant in Chester, and the finishing room at Total Titanium in Red Bud.
According to Martin, the second purpose for the ad is to illustrate the great tourism attractions in Randolph County. The ad features an antique map of Randolph County and mentions county history, the Popeye Character Trail, the Pierre Menard Home and the World Shooting & Recreation Complex. "Despite the economy in 2010, more than $29 million dollars were spent on tourism activities in Randolph County," says Martin. "That is a significant economic impact and we expect that figure will be higher for 2011. We want to continue to promote tourism in our great community."
The ad is the first in a series of six that will appear in Expansion Solutions magazine in 2012. The digital version of the current ad can be viewed at expansionsolutionsmagazine.com. A regional tourism ad will be featured in the upcoming Scout and there is another ad in the current edition of the Illinois South Visitor's Guide.
"There is a limited amount of information we can put into a one-page advertisement," said Martin. "So we invite people in the ads to visit us soon, and to check out our new Randolph County Economic Development website and Facebook page."
"We thank our villages and cities, the tourism committees and the Randolph County Commissioners who continue to support tourism and economic development for our community," Martin added. "This campaign would not be possible without their help."
The Randolph County Progress Committee is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization incorporated to oversee economic development efforts for Randolph County. Its mission is to create jobs while helping to preserve the quality of life and cultural heritage of Randolph County.