Prairie's Edge Casino Resort has a new website that is user friendly, looks great and has included  a "visiting" section with links to many local attractions.  With the amount of traffic they get on their website, this is a huge benefit to our community.  Check it out at http://www.prairiesedgecasino.com/visit/local-attractions

Thank you to two young,  talented videographers, Kirby Winsom and Isaac Svobodny, who created a "Shop Local" video .  Here's the link to it on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/kirbsterwinson/videos/10212275510388294/

Our online presence is increasingly important with searches on smart phones and computers for places to visit, stay, eat and shop.  If your business has done nothing else, update your google listing.  It's free and puts your information on most searches. Most locations already have a listing but the business owner can add details, correct information and pictures .  If you need help, contact the chamber office and I'll be happy to come to your business and show you how to do it.  If you have a website for your business, a link to the chamber's website is a great idea.  Businesses can also link to area websites like the Scenic Byway and Western Minnesota Prairie Waters .

Coming soon, The "Get Rural" project covers the Minnesota counties west of us and will soon have pages for each town in the area along with links to schools, hospitals, employment, government and more to give new residents a look at the entire area rather than just one town .

Explore Minnesota Tourism  is the state entity that promotes Minnesota throughout the United States and in foreign countries as well as within the state.  They host a yearly conference which was held this year January 20th-February 1st in St. Paul.  The sessions consist of great tips from marketing pros, ideas used by other tourism entities and a place to share ideas with other chambers, resort and attraction managers, state agencies and more.  As well as the general session, speed sessions allow the attendees to choose their topics of choice. This year was even more special with our local Fagen Fighter's WWII Museum winning a Tourism Award of Merit as one of the three top attractions in Minnesota.

Here are some of the highlights of the conference -  John Edman, director/CEO of Explore Minnesota,  reported on Minnesota's $14.4 billion tourism industry, statewide marketing initiatives, and shared a sneak peek of Explore Minnesota's all-new, event-focused TV ad that will air Super Bowl Sunday.   Lt. Governor Tina Smith spoke on the importance of Minnesota Tourism.  Peter Greenberg, Travel editor, highlighted the new world of consumer travel behavior.  A variety of national and local travel industry influences highlighted travel marketing trends.

I return from these events reinvigorated by all the ideas being used by towns across the state to attract visitors.  What works to attract visitors also works to attract new businesses, employees and residents.  This idea was confirmed in the presentation by Adam Sacks, founder and President of Tourism Economics and is something the chamber is working toward for Granite Falls.

 Explore Minnesota also offers co-op advertising rates that any business can take advantage of, stop into the chamber office for more information or check out the industry section of their website http://www.exploreminnesota.com/industry-minnesota/.  The Granite Falls CVB takes advantage of Explore Minnesota's annual tourism grant that funds almost half of advertising dollars spent to promote our town.  The chamber and CVB are members of the Southern Minnesota Tourism Association, a branch of Explore Minnesota.  This organization promotes the southern part of Minnesota with print, online and e-mail marketing strategies.  Many types of businesses can have a free listing on Explore Minnesota's website.  Stop into the chamber office for help setting up your listing.