The Franklin Tourism Development Authority bid its long-time board member and chair Connie Grubermann a fond farewell at the June 9 meeting.
There has been a Grubermann on the TDA board since 2008 when Connie’s husband, Michael, was appointed as a small accommodations representative. The couple owned Oak Hill Country Inn, now McTernan Manor. After Michael was diagnosed with cancer and got too sick to go to meetings, Connie started attending in his place. She was appointed to the board in 2015 and Michael passed away in May of that year. Grubermann sold the inn and retired a few years ago but continued to serve on the TDA board, but has reached her term limit on the board.
“I have enjoyed this last year immensely,” Grubermann said.
After Town Council member Robbie Tompa presented her with a certificate of appreciation and the board gave her a gift bag full of trinkets and Franklin-related mementos, Grubermann said, “This is the best dang board in town.” (If you know Connie, you know she didn’t say dang.)
Grubermann is also stepping down from the county’s Tourism Development Committee, on which she has served for nearly 20 years. She said she would be volunteering with the Scottish Tartans Museum and invited folks to come see her there.
In outlining the responsibilities for the new chair, Grubermann said she always tried to keep the meetings running smoothly and was respectful of the board members’ time. “You guys have all worked hard during the day and you need to get home to your families and have dinner.”
Tim Crabtree was elected to serve as chair beginning in July.
Town Manager Amie Owens reminded the board that one-third of the board members must collect occupancy tax. The three members who collect occupancy tax are Hannah Edwards, Heather Dombroski and Matt Holland, who has opted not to be reappointed.
With Grubermann and Holland leaving the board, there are two open positions, one of which must collect occupancy tax. Applications are available on the Town of Franklin website, franklinnc.com.
Festivals and events
The board voted to fund $1,500 of the $3,000 the Taste of Scotland Society requested for its Taste of Scotland Festival, held on June 14. During the May meeting, the board had allocated nearly all of its budget allocated for Festivals and Events and voted to transfer $1,125 from the undesignated funds to have enough to award part of the request for the Taste of Scotland.
Pam Bowen, the bookkeeper and committee chair from Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center, gave a report on the Sweet Carolina Music Festival held May 3. The TDA granted $3,000 for the festival. The event report showed after expenses, the event raised $28,275 for the Pregnancy Care Center.
“For our first one, we were all pretty happy with the outcome of it,” Bowen said.
Bowen said they sold 867 tickets and the online ticket sales showed people from eastern and western North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. Bowen said the rain that day dampened the attendance but estimated they averaged about 680 people over the course of the day, including volunteers.
Bowen said they heard very little negative feedback other than some comments about the handicap parking and entrance and the need for a designated play area for children. “We’re thinking about next year doing a little carnival atmosphere area for face painting and maybe pony rides,” she said.
Rising country musician John Morgan, who is originally from Sylva, was the headliner for the event with local bands playing throughout the afternoon and evening.
“We’ve already been in touch with John Morgan’s people and have submitted a proposal to do it again next year on the same weekend,” Bowen said. “We’re wanting to make this a yearly event.”
New on the agenda for the June meeting was a request for the annual Come Together Festival, which focuses on mental health and resources available locally. TribalVibe Promotions asked for $1,000 for the event to be held Sept. 26. As is TDA policy, requests for funding are voted on the month following, so the vote will be on the July agenda.
Financial report
The lodging tax collections for the year (thru April) total $147,412.72, compared to $137,380.09 during the same period last year. The collections for April totaled $15,576.98, which was the second highest April collection in the past 15 years; the highest was $16,311.64 in April 2013. Expenses for the year have totaled $146,010.62.
There are two months of collection reports remaining in the fiscal year ending June 30. Last year’s total lodging tax collections was $171,821.06. The 2024-25 budget was projected to be $180,000. The TDA has $174,362.43 in its fund balance.
The budget for fiscal year 2025-26, which begins July 1, includes $16,150 in undesignated funds. This year the TDA put $13,000 of their undesignated funds toward the cost of replacement banners that the town will install around town. The TDC also contributed $13,000 for the banners.
Owens asked the board to start thinking about infrastructure projects the TDA could help fund this year. “That’s not infrastructure like water/sewer lines or anything like that. It’s something concrete that we can use that’s tourism related that helps with the branding of the town and the region.”
According to the legislation that established the TDA, two-thirds of the lodging tax collected must go toward tourism advertising and marketing; the remaining one-third can go toward tourism-related related expenditures, including capital projects.
Marketing report
Morgan Stewart of Stewart Communications presented an overview of the marketing activity for the year – 2024-25 was the first year the firm had handled the TDA’s marketing and advertising; it was previously done by Drake Enterprises.
During the year, Stewart Communications helped the TDA rebrand from “Discover Franklin” to “Experience Franklin,” including the development of a new logo and website, as well as social media content. Stewart said website visitors are spending more time on the site, with an increase from an average of 18 seconds to 33 seconds. He wants to see that number increase, adding that the more time they spend on the site the more likely they are to visit.
Stewart Communications has also conducted surveys asking visitors and event participants what they enjoy in Franklin and what they would like to see. A survey was sent to 490 people with 44 responses; 63 people were surveyed during the July 4, 2024, events, and 17 people responded via the QR codes on flyers in local businesses. Stewart said the surveys also helped them learn more about where visitors are coming from.
About 50 percent of the people surveyed are coming from Florida with Georgia next in line. Others are coming from within the state, Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama. Outdoor activities are at the top of the list for what brings visitors here.
“I always say people come to the mountains for the mountains,” Stewart said. Other activities visitors enjoyed included dining at local restaurants, special events, shopping, gem mining, the breweries and live music. “They want to come for experiences, which is one of the reasons why we wanted ‘Experience Franklin’ for the new brand.”
Stewart said moving into the next year, there is some concern among tourism officials across the state about the economy and if things will slow down. He said people are making more last-minute reservations but that road trips are increasing as people are planning trips within an easy driving distance.
Stewart said they will continue to work on building partnerships with organizations such as Visit Smokies (Smoky Mountain Host), the TDC, and Visit North Carolina. Last year they held stakeholder meetings to get input from people in the community.
He said they are working to reach visitors through a variety of channels such as billboards, advertisements in visitor guides and magazines, social media posts and videos, and they have invited travel writers to visit. Like other counties in the region, the TDA and TDC have helped promote that WNC is recovering from Hurricane Helene and is welcoming visitors.
The TDA has renewed its contract with Stewart Communications for another year.
The next TDA meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday, July 14 in the board room on the lower level of Town Hall.