Students from the Tippie College of Business Marketing Institute developed branding and marketing strategies for the Boone Forks region, consisting of Boone, Hamilton, and Webster Counties, which is one of Iowa’s four Parks to People regions.
Three years ago, Hamilton, Boone, and Webster Counties received funding from Iowa’s Parks Foundation to develop a master plan as a region focused on achieving economic, social and natural resources balance and improvements.
The Boone Forks Parks to People planning team involves collaborators from the state, county and local government, non- profit organizations and private sector economic leaders to build a robust regional approach for the future. Now that the plan is complete, the next step is to start promoting the Boone Forks region. State level funding has disappeared for these initiatives, but the three counties all believe that the vision is still worth pursuing by other means.
The goal of the project was to create a marketing plan and branding strategy to promote the Boone Forks area to the residents Hamilton, Boone and Webster counties. The Boone Forks area offers many opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, bike trails, and so on. In addition, there is an opportunity to increase the awareness of environmental education and the importance of protecting the Boone River.