Route 6 Connections October/November 2015

CELEBRATING FALL AND GETTING READY FOR THE NEW YEAR The fall season is always popular along Route 6. This year we featured all thesenses in our promotions, advising travelers to get out of their cars and enjoy our trails, diners, and fall festivals across Route 6. We shared spectacular pictures from our CVB partners on our Facebook page that resulted in a reach of over 10,000 and Visit PA tweeted about fall foliage tours on Route 6 several times. All of these promotions resulted in our interactive activity spiking greatly during the week of October 11-17. Let's keep the momentum up! The trick with social media is to post fresh new material in a consistent manner. We can't do that without all of our partners feeding us stories and pictures. Please review the list of story themes for the next six months and send us some material. Send pictures and information toparoute6@verizon.net. Immediate needs:       -What's New for 2016 -Stories on the authors and writers who lived along Route 6 2016 Themes:    January - Places to hibernate in the winter February - Getaways at romantic and historic resorts March - Maple Month: A Natural Factory Tour April - PA Route 6 Artisan Trail - Using Nature to Create Art May -Rise of the Bucktails and other Civil War Connections June - Pedaling Across Route 6 SHOP SMALL - SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY Would your business benefit from increased traffic on the biggest shopping day of the year? PA Route 6 Alliance is looking for businesses to participate in our SHOP SMALL SELFIE event on Saturday, November 28. The program is open to all our Artisan Trail members and retail shops. There is no cost; other than you need to be open on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. And there is no travel - you stay in your store. PA Route 6 Alliance will promote all participants, encouraging shoppers to take selfies with owners, employees or unique finds and post them to our Facebook page. All participants will receive a poster and tent cards. To participate in this promotion, fill out this simple form and send back to the PA Route 6 office by November 13th. Encourage your neighboring stores to participate as well. We will send out all material and start promoting the SHOP SMALL SELFIE event in mid-November. RAILROADING HISTORY AND HERITAGE CELEBRATED ALONG ROUTE 6 US Route 6 in Pennsylvania has many sites and attractions that tell the story of transporting goods and people over the rails. Recently five railroad based attractions participated in an advertisement in a special section of AAA World - Midatlanic on Pennsylvania Railroads. The sites included the Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad, the Kinzua Skywalk, the Shay locomotive and Barnhardt log loader at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum,Steamtown National Park and the Stourbridge Line in Honesdale. Besides exposure to AAA World's 4.5 million readers, the ad has resulted in over 500 direct requests for more information. NEW MAGAZINE FORMAT GUIDE ANNOUNCED FOR 2016 Based on recommendations from AAA Travel Agents and the PennDOT Welcome Centers staff, the PA Route 6 Alliance had partnered with Beagle Media to publish a new magazine format guide for 2016. Beagle Media of Wellsboro is the award winning publisher of "Mountain Home" magazine. The new magazine will serve as a travelogue moving from west to east along the Route telling the interesting stories and featuring the "don't miss" sites of the Route 6 Heritage Corridor. The Convention and Visitor Bureaus across Route 6 will conduct the ad sales. Look for advertising information to come from your local CVB. Ad deadline will be in January. The publication will be released March 1, 2016. HERITAGE COMMUNITY FEATURE WARREN PARTNERS FOCUSING ON IMPROVING TRAFFIC TO DOWNTOWN The Warren Downtown Partnership has been meeting monthly to educate themselves on what makes a downtown successful with the hopes of developing a plan based on effective proven techniques. Guided by the PA Route 6 Alliance and using the webinars from the Roger Brooks International Destination Development library, the stakeholders group has been able to identify what the downtown is doing right and where they need work. Members of the stakeholders group include businesses, organizations, city employees, and both the Warren County Visitors Bureau and theWarren County Chamber of Business and Industry. The next step is to address short term issues, identify long term goals and develop a brand. This is just one o f the services that the PA Route 6 Alliance provided to our communities. For more information, contact our office. TWO GRANT OPPORTUNITIES The Multimodal Transportation Fund provides that opportunity for our municipalities, local transportation agencies and business community by encouraging development and innovation to create a safe and efficient transportation network. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) started accepting applications for the $40 million available in Multimodal Transportation Fund grants for the coming fiscal year on October 3. The program is open to municipalities, counties, school districts, councils of government, businesses, non-profits, economic development organizations, public transportation agencies, transportation management associations, ports or rail/freight entities. Grants through the Multimodal Transportation Fund can be used for the development, rehabilitation and enhancement of transportation assets to existing communities including streetscape, lighting, sidewalk enhancement, pedestrian safety, connectivity of transportation assets and transit-oriented development. PennDOT will evaluate applicants based on safety benefits, regional economic conditions, the technical and financial feasibility, job creation, energy efficiency, and operational sustainability. Applications for Multimodal grants are due by December 18 and PennDOT plans to announce the grant recipients in early 2016 for the funds that will be released in July 2016. For more information on the program,  click here.   DCNR C2P2 Grant Workshops: The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, is offering aworkshop to prepare applicants to meet the requirements of ourCommunity Conservation Partnerships Program (C2P2). The 2016 Grant program opens January 20, 2016 and closes on April 13th, 2016. This workshop will assist community leaders, consultants, board members, and park and recreation professionals interested in learning about resources available to plan, acquire, and construct public recreation and conservation areas in their communities.  Register for a workshop in your Region. Northwest Region, Franklin, PA-Thursday, November 5th, 9a-12p Northeast Region, Nanticoke, PA-Thursday, November 12th, 9a-12p North Central Region, State College, PA-Thursday, November 18th, 9a-12p Various Locations throughout the Northern Tier-Coudersport, Bradford, St. Marys, Warren. Live and Interactive TV-Tuesday, November 24th, 10:30a-12p.  Click here for details.