TROUBLESOME CREEK TIMES - APRIL 22, 2010 - OTHER SPONSORS

TROUBLESOME CREEK TIMES - APRIL 22, 2010 - ECONOMIC IMPACT

TROUBLESOME CREEK TIMES - 4/22/10 - ATTRACTING CORPORATE SPONSORS

KENTUCKY'S LT. GOVERNOR MONGIARDO ARTICLE - Click here for Word Document

Andy's Cycle sold 13 bikes last Saturday and by the end of the week they had sold 33 which was an awesome sales week for them. They attribute this increase in sales to both the Kawasaki Media Blitz and Knott County's Ground Poundin. Both events were held last week in the northern part of Knott County at Mine Made Paradise Park. Both Yamaha and Can-Am were offering free demo rides Friday, Saturday and Sunday and Kawasaki brought in 20 OHV travel writers from all over the U.S. throughout the week to experience the trails and try out some of their bikes.

Andy's Cycle was one of the sponsors of the Ground Poundin and had bikes at the event on display. YKP Motorsports in Jackson also had displays set up and sold 9 bikes during and immediately following the event. We have no doubt they have probably sold more since then.

As mentioned earlier, Hampton Inn had 170 rooms rented last week directly associated with the Kawasaki Media Blitz and the Ground Poundin resulting in over $15,000 in room revenue. And both Applebees and LaPena Mexican Restaurants in Hazard also had fantastic sales last week since many participants at both events dined in the evenings at their establishments. In fact, Lula Gibson, manager of Applebee's said their sales were up $4000 last week directly related to the events in Knott County. "It was one of our best week's ever!", stated Lula. She highly recommended Knott County hold such events every week! "Bring em on", Lula said. "We love having them here!"

TWO BACK-TO-BACK EVENTS MAKE BIG ECONOMIC IMPACT FOR KENTUCKY!

A survey of one hundred and sixteen attendees at this weekend's Knott County Ground Poundin ATV Trail Ride event in eastern Kentucky revealed riders spent on average $148 per person while in the area creating an estimated $88,800 to $118,400 economic impact for the region. The least amount spent was $10 (lived nearby) with $1000 being the most spent (lived in North Dakota and came in with can-am).

Over 50% of those who filled out a survey either tent or RV camped on site and 10% stayed at the Hampton Inn in Hazard while another 3% stayed at Combs Motel (also in Hazard). Twenty percent (20%) of those surveyed came from outside the state of Kentucky. States represented were West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, North Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, and California. Kentucky riders who completed a survey came from the counties of Jefferson, Kenton, Garrard, Pulaski, Greenup, Boyd, Rowan, Bath, Montgomery, Powell, Morgan, Johnson, Estill, Lee, Magoffin, Floyd, Pike Letcher, Perry and of course Knott.

Corporate sponsors this year included Toyota, can-am, Yamaha and Kenda Tire. Destination Polaris arrived on Saturday and filmed a segment for their television show. Local sponsors included Pikeville RV who had four campers on display at the event and the Shriners were there too raffling off a Polaris Ranger 4 x 4. J.L. Smith, co-owner of YPK Motorsports http://ypkmotorsports.com/ in Jackson KY sells Yamaha, Polaris and Kawasaki out of his shop on Hwy 15 in Jackson KY and had a number of his units on display at this year’s event. He says he strongly supports these types of events because it is a way to “further promote powersports but also to increase tourism in eastern Kentucky”. He sees it as “an opportunity to educate others outside the state as to the beauty of the region and its many offerings”.

There is also the ripple effect to our local and state economy. For example, within the first two days following the event, YPK Motorsports has already sold three units as a direct result of participating in the Ground Poundin. J.L. notes that this in itself impacts the state of Kentucky since $2,000 of the funds from those sales will see its way to Frankfort in the way of sales tax. Andy’s Cycle in Hazard Kentucky http://www.andyscyclesales.com/ sold 13 bikes on Saturday and seven more on Monday because of the event. And Toyota Regional Office out of Cincinnati actually purchased all four vehicles they had on display at this year’s Ground Poundin from local dealers which was great for Brad Hughes in Prestonsburg and Walters Toyota in Pikeville. It also delivers another $8,000 to Frankfort in sales tax.

And hotels in Hazard had at least 170 lodging nights as a direct result of Knott County’s Spring Ground Poundin and the Kawasaki Media Blitz held just prior to the event which generated over $15,000 in room rates plus an additional $450 due to a 3% room tax that helps fund the local tourism commission and nearly $1,000 in sales tax. In fact, Kawasaki alone spent over $85,000 on food, gas, lodging and travel expenses to bring 20 top travel writers from Ohio, Georgia, Oregon, Maryland, Nevada, Michigan, New York, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, North Carolina and California plus staff to Knott County and they spent nearly $400 purchasing T-shirts for all the writers which in turn will help the local club.

The articles, press releases, and television coverage resulting from their visit has an estimated value of $1.5 million dollars in free advertisement, much of which will not be fully realized until this summer when television shows are aired and magazines hit the stands. All of which will feature both Kawasaki and, of course, Knott County Kentucky’s Mine-Made Paradise Park which should, in turn, increase OHV sales and entice more people to visit eastern Kentucky.

Click here for photos from both these events.