Harrison: Tourism key to Williamsburg’s economic growth

Williamsburg Roddy Harrison speaks during the Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce monthly membership luncheon Tuesday.

Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison would love to see a new factory move to Williamsburg. He would break out into cheerleading moves if it did although he concedes they wouldn’t be very pretty to watch.

Harrison told the Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce during its monthly membership luncheon Tuesday he sees tourism as the key to his city’s economic growth.

"Tourism is here. We need just to build on it," Harrison noted. "When folks ask me what we need in Williamsburg, I am still going to say a medical facility.

"Our citizens need it and deserve it and more industry would be nice, but I see our area as a destination site now. We have so much to offer."

Harrison said his city is focusing on what it has that other towns and cities don’t, and two of the biggest things are the Kentucky Splash Waterpark and the Cumberland River, which runs through town.

"If you take what you have and build on that what you have is tourism. I think tourism is going to be our future for job creation and for development around our area," Harrison said. "When people come to our events in Williamsburg, they enjoy it and they usually tell us they will be back. We need to build on that."

He said a focus on tourism is especially important with a Keeneland racetrack coming to Corbin and bringing in more visitors to the region.

Harrison noted that people are already coming to Williamsburg to visit the Kentucky Splash Waterpark in larger numbers than ever.

In 2014, about 100,000 people visited the waterpark, which was a record crowd, but in 2015 park visitation increased to 130,000 people.
70 percent of those visitors are from Tennessee and most of them come from the Knoxville area.

"They can be here and in the water faster than they can be in Dollywood," Harrison said. "We are getting a lot of the Tennessee business. Let’s get them here and keep them here for a few days."

The city is also working on a short river walk. In conjunction with the Williamsburg Tourism Commission, the city has built a 17-slot RV park built adjacent to the Kentucky Splash Waterpark, which is open year round.

"It is a success. There are a lot of people going to that thing," Harrison said. "I didn’t realize how many people are into RV’s … We have local people driving two miles, taking their camper and staying two days."

By spring, city officials hope to have a bathhouse built at the campground in order to attract people who just want to come to the park and camp out in tents.

In terms of the Cumberland River, Harrison noted Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White’s recent announcement that a new boat ramp would be built along the Cumberland River just north of Williamsburg near Croley Bend.

"There is a start. It is going to make a nice float trip from that area to downtown," said Harrison, who noted he would like to see an even closer ramp built to Williamsburg in the other direction so people could float in the other direction in canoes and kayaks.
A major tourism event already in Williamsburg that draws hundreds of visitors to town is the annual Gateway to the Cumberland Jeep Jamboree, which will take place Oct. 22-24.

For the last four years, it has been the largest in the nation and last year was the largest jamboree in the world. So far more people are pre-registered for the event this year than attended last year.

Harrison also touched on a few other subjects during his address Tuesday.

He noted that two restaurants are supposed to be coming to town in the near future.

Harrison said that if all goes well, there should be a new restaurant coming in February to the one opening in the town’s newest strip mall, which is located next to Wal-Mart.

Harrison said he recently spoke with Cook Out restaurant representatives, who have already purchased land near Exit 11.
Cook Out officials informed him that they are still planning to come to Williamsburg, possibly as soon as late spring or early summer.

In addition, Harrison informed the chamber that the city is in the midst of an energy savings program that should result in providing the city an additional $190,000 annually through either reduced energy usage costs or additional revenue.

Part of that plan involves replacing the city’s old manual water meters with a cellular meter system. About 55 meters still need replacement.

In addition to being far more accurate, the new meters give city officials the ability to tell in real time what someone’s water usage is.

Harrison said an app is coming "pretty soon" that will enable local residents to see their water usage.

"No matter where they are at, they can just get on the app and look and see whether they have a leak in their house," he noted.
Southeastern Kentucky Rehabilitation Industries (SEKRI) sponsored Tuesday’s luncheon.

SEKRI was founded in 1971 for the purpose of serving people with mental and physical disabilities.

SEKRI now have five manufacturing facilities, which are located in Kentucky and Tennessee that employee 550 individuals of whom 75 percent are disabled.

SEKRI representative Stan Baker informed the crowd that October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

"Americans with disabilities is one of the largest untapped pools of potential employees in the entire United States," Baker noted. "We at SEKRI have found them to be talented, capable, attentive and thankful for the opportunity to contribute to the company’s success."