Latest news with #SheaLewis
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Arkansas parks department awards recreation grants to counties around the state
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Officials with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism announced Thursday $3.85 million in Outdoor Recreation Grants will be going to counties across the state. Parks department officials said in a release that it is awarding $3.85 million in FY2025 Outdoor Recreation Grants to projects within 20 counties across the state. The grants fall into two categories: Facilities for Underdeveloped Neighborhoods Park grants and matching grants. 'The Outdoor Recreation Grants Program (ORGP) has provided $55.47 million in matching grants since 1988 and $17.4 million in FUN Park grants since 1991,' Secretary Shea Lewis said. 'These funds have undoubtedly enriched the quality of life for Arkansans statewide, fostering greater access to outdoor recreation and bolstering the vitality of local economies.' Arkansas awarding more than $4 million in FUN grants for outdoor recreation projects Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the money awarded will stretch across the state and across outdoor activities. 'I want Arkansas to be the best state in America to live, to work, and raise a family. But in order to do that, we have to make big improvements to things like our schools, our state parks, and public safety,' the governor said. 'We are proud to announce that $3.85 million we're distributing will stretch across Arkansas and across outdoor activities.' Katherine Andrews, director of the Office of Outdoor Recreation, said that the grants program supports the cities awarded in their efforts to developing facilities that encourage active lifestyles and enhance quality of life. 'The Outdoor Recreation Grants Program plays a vital role in expanding access to quality outdoor spaces across Arkansas,' Andrews said. 'We are proud to support these 23 cities in their efforts to develop parks and recreational facilities that encourage active lifestyles, strengthen local economies and enhance quality of life.' Arkansas to get more than $32 million in federal grant to improve roads, Little Rock awarded $25 million Some grant recipients include $774,662.38 for Benton to create the Cherry Demuth Campground/River Access and $100,000 for Hot Spring County to create the Bismarck community's first community recreational site. To see the full list of grant recipients, visit Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Governor's conference highlights tourism industry in Arkansas
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Leaders from across the state attended the governor's 51st annual conference on tourism. Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Outdoor Tourism, Shea Lewis, says tourism is one of Arkansas' top industries. 'For Arkansas, tourism is the second leading industry in our state, so it's a huge economic driver for the gross domestic product that keeps our state going.' This year's governor's conference looked a little different, though, because it joined forces with the Arkansas Outdoor Economy Summit. The event featured educational sessions on tourism and travel trends, the economics of the outdoors and industry workforce development efforts. Lewis says the conference is a way to share success stories from all over the state. 'We hear great stories of accomplishments from northeast Arkansas to northwest Arkansas from southwest to southeast to central Arkansas that great things all come together when the tourism of the state work together to promote our state.' Kalene Griffith is the CEO of Visit Bentonville. She attended today's conference to share insight on how the Bentonville area has grown over the last year. Griffith says that the COVID-19 pandemic saw many visitors traveling to Arkansas, looking for outdoor activities suited for social distancing. 'We have so many outdoor amenities, such as the trails, the lakes, the rivers,' Griffith said. 'We could be fishing, hunting, riding bikes.' She says this increase in demand for outdoor activities established Bentonville as not just a place for business opportunities. 'With the growth of the outdoor industry, the trail developments and the arts, we have grown as this initiative for the leisure market. We have always been a business destination, but now we are a leisure market.' This is also having an impact on local businesses. Griffith says that Visit Bentonville hosted 310 events in 2024 that added roughly $42 million to the local economy. In 2024, Visit Bentonville conducted a study that found that 1/4 of patrons at any given restaurant in Bentonville are from out of town. Its study also found that roughly 50% of businesses' income comes directly from out-of-state visitors. 'It introduces people to our area that have never been here, and hopefully we're going to see them come back and they become a regular visitor for us,' Griffith said. The Governor's Conference ends with an awards banquet on Tuesday night. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
