The Iowa Wine and Beer Promotion Board is awarding grants to help advertise festivals and events. Board member Luann Reinders says the first round of allocations will be about five-thousand dollars for event promotion. She says the wine industry’s “really been exploding the last few years.” That means more money coming into the account for promotions, and they’ve been able to do a few more things with it.
The last couple years the board funded some brochures telling about Iowa’s wineries and breweries but with the extra money they’re able to put it into the grant program. Among promotions slated to get dollar-for-dollar matching promotion funds from the board will be the Quad Cities Symphony’s “Riverfront Pops” event, and the 2006 Iowa Wine Festival in Indianola.
Reinders says the board chose five events to promote with grants this year. She says it’s fun and “people are getting really creative with some of the events they put together.” For instance, the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra event this fall will feature a “wine park” within the festival. There will be another round of grants in June and possibly a third in September.
The board, created by the Iowa Legislature, includes representatives from the state’s wineries, the beer industry, and the Department of Economic Development.