The Mayberry Trading Post in Meadows of Dan received a $5,000 grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC)’s Microbusiness Marketing Leverage Program (MMLP) to host a pig pickin’ weekend celebrating the store’s 132nd birthday in April 2024.
The Mayberry Trading Post partnered with other local businesses to supply matching funds for the project in order to attract visitors to the Meadows of Dan area during the Blue Ridge Parkway’s off-season.
Virginia Tourism Corporation awarded more than $757,000 to 131 marketing programs, ultimately impacting 655 combined partners, and supporting more than 1,300 jobs across the state to help increase off-season visitation to tourism businesses and destinations.
“The Patrick County Chamber of Commerce is so pleased to see one of our members, The Mayberry Trading Post, receive the microbusiness marketing grant. The Trading Post has been given new life with the renovations and updates that occurred last year, and we are excited to see this historic building and business continue to serve not only the community of Meadows of Dan, but also those who travel along the Blue Ridge Parkway,” said Rebecca Adcock, executive director of the Patrick County Chamber of Commerce.
“The Microbusiness Marketing Leverage Program is part of VTC’s strategy to grow year-round visitation in Virginia and is designed to support small tourism businesses with marketing dollars to drive out-of-state visitation during off-peak travel seasons. We are excited about this program because we see it as a gateway for small businesses to engage with VTC’s marketing and development ecosystem to grow their business and build on the Virginia is for Lovers branding,” said Rita McClenny, president and CEO of Virginia Tourism Corporation.
The VTC Microbusiness Marketing Leverage Program is designed to increase visitor spending in the off-season by leveraging limited marketing dollars, stimulating new tourism marketing through partnerships, and extending the “Virginia is for Lovers” brand. This is a program focused on supporting tourism businesses with less than 20 full-time employees through marketing partnerships. A minimum of five Virginia entities must partner to apply for the microbusiness marketing grant. Partners may consist of Virginia cities, towns, counties, convention and visitors’ bureaus, chambers of commerce, other local or regional destination marketing organizations, private businesses, museums, attractions, cultural events, and other tourism-related businesses.
The Mayberry Trading Post is an old-fashioned general store built in 1892, and which continues to offer a variety of mountain crafts produced by local artists and artisans. It is located at milepost 180.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
