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Travel Oregon awards $125,000 in grants via Wine Country license plate

By Eric Degerman on April 24, 2019

The upper portions of Knudsen Vineyards, which was established in 1971, serve as the backdrop for the Oregon Wine Country license plate. (Photo courtesy of Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles).

The Oregon Legislature authorized the Wine Country license plate program in 2011, and five organizations with ties to wine-country tourism learned today they will share $125,000 in grant funding as a result.

Travel Oregon announced the results of the Oregon Wine Country Plates Matching Grants program, which is funded through proceeds from the sale of the Wine Country license plates.

A year ago, eight projects were awarded a total of $184,200 in funding through the Wine Country license plate program.

The new Rogue Valley Vintners received the lion’s share of $50,000 to develop a brand and launch a comprehensive, cross-platform marketing and communications strategy with Lookout, led by former Disney executive Holly Macfee, to support that effort.

Bounty of Yamhill County will fund professional video and photography during the 2019 BOYC event that will be part of a brand refresh and included on their new website as they market the 2020 event.

Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative will produce a 360-degree virtual reality regional video highlighting wine, beer and culinary offerings in Baker, Grant, Harney and Union counties.

Umpqua Valley Winegrowers Association will launch a marketing effort combining website, social and other platforms that promotes tourism to the Umpqua Valley wine region.

Willamette Valley Wineries Association will develop an integrated digital marketing platform and destination management system that increase wine tourism to the Willamette Valley AVA. Last year, Willamette Valley Wineries Association also was among the winners.

In 2017, there were $90,000 in grants awarded, and the Umpqua Valley Winegrowers Association was a recipient.

Applications for the 2020-2021 matching grants will be accepted in January 2020.

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About Eric Degerman

Eric Degerman is the President and CEO of Great Northwest Wine. He is a journalist with more than 30 years of daily newspaper experience and has been writing about wine since 1998. He co-founded Wine Press Northwest magazine with Andy Perdue and served as its managing editor for a decade. He is a frequent wine judge at international wine competitions throughout North America and orchestrates 10 Northwest competitions each year.