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Local CVB creates plan for lost state funding

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Last edited 4:05 p.m., Aug. 18, 2017

The Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau is working to make up for part of its state funding loss after Gov. Eric Greitens withheld $10 million from the Missouri Division of Tourism.

When Greitens signed the budget earlier in the summer, he lopped off about half of the state’s tourism promotion funding. The changes to the tourism department are affecting the local CVB’s efforts by roughly $233,500, according to a news release.

The CVB was mostly harmed by a 23 percent reduction to the Promote Missouri Fund, which is designed to market the state. The CVB is now receiving $196,500 from the program, down from an expected $430,000.

"The withholding didn't just impact the Division of Tourism's budget," said CVB President and CEO Tracy Kimberlin said in a provided statement. "It cut ours by $230,000 because of the resulting cuts to the cooperative marketing program."

To account for the shortfall, the CVB board voted last month to dip into its fund balance to sustain its advertising levels for fiscal 2018. About $1 million of the CVB's budget is in advertising, part of which came from partners Bass Pro Shops and the Springfield Cardinals, according to the release.

The CVB also is losing $10,800 from the tourism department’s pay-per-click search engine marketing partnership.

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