Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau celebrates 60 years of regional tourism
Eric Morris
Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau executive director Ann Nemanic introduces Teresa Baughman, director of operations at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg, as the Tourism Employee of Year at the organization’s annual dinner, held Thursday at the Fred M. Rogers Center on the campus of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.
Eric Morris|Herald-Standard
Teresa Baughman (center), director of operations at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg, after receiving her award for the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau Tourism Employee of Year is pictured with Mike Langer (left), president of the Westmoreland Cultural Trust, who nominated Baughman for the award, and Ann Nemanic, executive director of the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau.
The Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau is celebrating 60 years of regional tourism as the principal promoter of recreation in the tri-county area.
At its annual organization dinner held recently at the Fred M. Rogers Center on the campus of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, the visitors bureau reflected on six decades of promotion in the Laurel Highlands and honored several businesses and individuals for their contributions to making the region a travel destination.
Providing introductory statements, board chairman and Seven Springs Mountain Resort CEO Eric Mauck welcomed attendees to “our neighborhood of tourism” covering Fayette, Somerset and Westmoreland counties, which the visitors bureau has marketed since 1958.
Mauck remarked on a positive year for tourism in the Laurel Highlands.
“This year, data shows the region’s lodging occupancy is up 6.9 percent. That is a fantastic number,” said Mauck. “Even more important than that, revenues are up 8.8 percent. In spite of the wet, rainy summer, we’re on pace to have record year this year.”
The visitors bureau recognized several of its founding organizations with Trailblazer of the Year awards.
Explaining the origin of the bureau, director of tourism development Stacey Magda said a group of individuals assembled in 1958 to promote interests in the region, establishing the “Laurel Highlands” brand.
“From those 10 original founding partners, we are lucky to have eight still in operation today and seven still actively involved in the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau,” said Magda. “These supportive organizations continue to provide us with a strong foundation.”
Organizations recognized as Trailblazers of the Year were Fay-Penn Economic Development Council, Fayette Chamber of Commerce, Idlewild Park and Soak Zone, Laurel Mountain Ski Area, Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce, Pennsylvania Tourism Office of Department of Community and Economic Development and Summit Inn.
The Tourism Employee of Year award was presented to Teresa Baughman, director of operations at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg.
“Tonight we honor a daredevil in our industry, someone who never backs down from a challenge, has a true willingness to lead and has cultivated a new mindset at The Palace Theatre,” said visitors bureau executive director Ann Nemanic.
Nemanic called Baughman a partner to many businesses in the Laurel Highlands, the crowds drawn by her events at The Palace Theatre benefitting large swaths of the local food and hospitality industries. Baughman’s aggressive show schedule philosophy, said Nemanic, resulted in more than 17,000 overnight stays in the region in 2017.
The Pathfinder of the Year award, presented to proprietors who “carve a path” for a profession they love and, by doing so, attract visitors to the Laurel Highlands was awarded to the Krysak family, operators of Bittersweet Café in Farmington. The family-run eatery was founded in 2015 by Terri Krysak and sources many of its ingredients locally or on-site.
The visitors bureau awarded two collegiate academic scholarships to students attending area institutions.
Jessie Belding of Waynesburg, a junior majoring in hospitality and tourism at Seton Hill University, and Robert Steindl of Connellsville, a culinary arts student at Westmoreland County Community College and a culinary apprentice at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, received Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau tourism scholarships, each valued at $1,500.
The scholarships were funded as a result of the proceeds from a silent auction held at the bureau’s 2017 annual dinner.