The Williams County Board of County Commissioners on March 18 approved the 2025 Williams County Tourism Grant Program and appointed the review committee that will evaluate applications.

Lindsay Harriman, community engagement staff, told the board $80,000 was included in the 2025 budget for the tourism grants from the visitor promotion fund (hospitality tax receipts). Of that, $60,000 is designated for capital project grants and $20,000 for events or advertising. Harriman described two changes to the program: priority will be given to new or expanded projects and a scoring rubric will be used to provide more structure to the review committee’s recommendations.

The application window would open Thursday at 9 a.m., with applications due in May and recommendations planned for the May commission meeting. The board also approved the recommended review committee members: Amy Krueger (executive director, CVB), Commissioner Gary Ramberg (named on the record) and community member Kelly Ellingson.

Why it matters: the program provides county-controlled visitor-promotion funds for projects and events intended to attract visitors and support tourism-related economic activity; the changes aim to prioritize new experiences and provide clearer scoring guidance for reviewers.

Commission action: motion to approve the program and appointments carried on recorded roll call.