In this episode - the companion to the episode with Devanee Morrison about the Lava Hot Springs Foundation - I talk to Matt Borud, Chief Business Development Officer for the Idaho Department of Commerce. Matt and I talk about the interesting things going on in the Idaho Department of Commerce and his role there but we spend most of our time on Idaho tourism. We talk about the incredible growth over the last decade in Idaho tourism and the opportunities and challenges that growth represents. Matt explains how is department works to be a partner with Idaho communities to both market tourism but also share a significant amount of money back out to communities in the forms of grants. We talk about how tourism supports small businesses and rural communities as well as the infrastructure needs - like broadband - in rural communities for not only tourism but also for schools, small businesses, agriculture and first responders. We talk about what gives Matt hope about Idaho (hint, it’s really about the people) and what he worries about (the urban/rural divide). We end, as always, with the Road Trip Music Question.
Podcast music: “A Happy Day” by codemusic, http://www.jamendo.com, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/