On November 10, the inaugural NET Awards were presented to two teams at the 2021 NET Conference, which was held in Savannah, GA, and hosted by Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, University of Georgia. The NET Awards Committee oversees the awards nomination and selection process.
NET Excellence in Tourism Award
This award recognizes an extension or outreach individual or a team for their work in any aspect of tourism development, or for accomplishments relative to scholarly and creative activities, teaching and/or research effectiveness.
Winner: CREATE BRIDGES (Celebrating REtail, Accommodations, Tourism, and Entertainment by Building Rural Innovations and Developing Growth Economies)
Description: CREATE BRIDGES (Celebrating REtail, Accommodations, Tourism, and Entertainment by Building Rural Innovations and Developing Growth Economies) began in 2018 when the Southern Rural Development Center partnered with project leads in three states to focus economic development efforts in retail, tourism, accommodations, and entertainment (CREATE) sectors through a three-year pilot initiative funded by Walmart. The project combined regional economic and workforce development efforts in a unique way by focusing on both business and workforce outcomes in four-interconnected sectors.
Websites for Resources Developed by the State Teams:
Project Team:
- Becky Bowen (North Carolina State University)
- Alison Davis (University of Kentucky)
- Julianne Dunn (University of Arkansas) – Present at NET 2021 to receive award
- Russ Garner (Southern Rural Development Center)
- Tim Hagaman (New Mexico Economic Development Department)
- Susan Jakes (North Carolina State University)
- Dan Kahl (University of Kentucky)
- Zachary Kennedy (University of Illinois)
- Grace Langford (Southern Rural Development Center)
- Mercedes Maness (University of Kentucky) -Present at NET 2021 to receive award
- Brandon Mathews (University of Arkansas)
- Stacey McCullough (University of Arkansas)
- Susan Odum (University of Illinois)
- Michael Patrick (New Mexico State University)
- Sara Siems (Oklahoma State University) – Present at NET 2021 to receive award
- Patrick Vanderpool (Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation)
- Rachel Welborn (Southern Rural Development Center)
- Hazelle Whited (University of Arkansas)
- Muriel Wiley (University of Arkansas)
- Mike Woods (Oklahoma State University)
NET Excellence in Tourism Programming Award: Individual or Team
This award recognizes outstanding tourism program development, impacts, or accomplishments relative to innovative, creative, or scholarly activities.
Winner: Agritourism Multi-State Project Team
Description: A three-year project to help us understand how agritourism is impacting farm entrepreneurs and the types of support needed to ensure the long-term success of rural communities, sustainable food systems, and recreation economies. The goal of this integrated research and Extension project is to improve the viability of farms and ranches throughout the US by providing guidance and support for the implementation of best management practices for successful direct sales and agritourism enterprises.
Website: https://www.uvm.edu/vtrc/agritourism-survey
Project Team:
- Lisa Chase (University of Vermont) – Present at NET 2021 to receive award
- David Conner (University of Vermont)
- Weiwei Wang (University of Vermont)
- Chadley Hollas (University of Vermont)
- Lindsay Quella (University of Vermont)
- Gail Feenstra (University of California, Davis)
- Penny Leff (University of California, Davis)
- Rachael Callahan (University of California, Davis)
- Mary Stewart (Oregon State University) – Present at NET 2021 to receive award
- Doolarie Singh-Knights (West Virginia University)
- Claudia Schmidt (Pennsylvania State University)
- Dave Lamie (Clemson University) – Present at NET 2021 to receive award
- Lori Dickes (Clemson University)
- Stacy Tomas (Oklahoma State University) – Present at NET 2021 to receive award
- Xinyi Qian (University of Minnesota)
The National Extension Tourism conference was supported in part by a grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and also by NOAA Sea Grant. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed at the conference or on this website do not necessarily reflect the view of the USDA or NOAA Sea Grant.