More than $880,000 allocated to promote Nebraska’s Byway Program

LINCOLN, NEB. (December 17, 2007)—Nebraska is one of 41 states to receive a Federal Highway Administration grant to support its Scenic Byways programs. The state received grants totaling $882,400 in support of projects including:

• $24,000 for Byway roll-up banners
• $94,400 for Geo-picting GPS photo scavenger hunt
• $96,000 for Byway photography and videography
• $200,000 for Byway podcasting and broadcasting
• $156,000 for Byway youth web promotion
• $280,000 for Byway kiosks, enhancements and additional units
• $32,000 for a Central region byways conference

The grants will allow Nebraska’s Byways to promote tourism in numerous ways: at sport shows, through the internet and to tourists traveling through Nebraska. The funds will benefit small communities around the byways by drawing more visitors to the state’s “off the beaten path” tourist destinations, said Christian Hornbaker, DED’s director of tourism.

“It’s a huge victory not just for the byways, but really for the entire state of Nebraska,” Hornbaker said.

Jim Pearson, state coordinator for Nebraska byways, said the $882,400 in federal funding will bring the total amount of new funding received since the Byway program started to almost $4 million.

“The Nebraska Department of Roads has long believed that bringing funding into our state to promote our byways and state tourism will not only benefit rural areas but also increase the economic well being of all Nebraskans,” Pearson said. “All of this year’s funding will be used to leverage limited tourism dollars available within the Department of Economic Development, which in turn will pay back big dividends for those folks in our travel industry.” 

The Byways program will receive funds to use for the specified purposes, and the amounts in each category will be used to benefit all of Nebraska’s nine scenic byways.

FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Sarah Baker at 800-228-4307, 402-471-3797, or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it