November 2010 Archives

The 2010 Welcome Center Educational Retreat held Nov. 14-15 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Birmingham had record turnout and participation from the Alabama Tourism Partners. The Alabama Tourism Department Welcome Center Division had 42 team members to attend and participate in the planned city tours and receive updates from Alabama tourism partners. The Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau was the host city and coordinated the activities and events for the welcome center staff. The retreat included presentations from Alabama tourism partners including: Embassy Suites Hotel, Birmingham CVB Welcome- Sara Hamlin, Updates & Presentation and Cynthia McHeard of the Greater Birmingham CVB, JP Parsons of Jackson County Tourism, Brenda Cantrell of Unclaimed Baggage, Karen Conner of the USS Alabama Battleship, Dixie Connell of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Patricia Hurston of the Holiday Inn Downtown Huntsville, Cecile Clark of the Mobile Bay CVB, Christy Elmore of the Dothan CVB, Suzanne Parker of the Holiday Inn Express Orange Beach, Brenda Lazenby of the Hilton Garden Inn Orange Beach, Betty Wood of Gulf Shores Orange Beach Tourism, Jeanette Dunnavant of the Greater Limestone Chamber of Commerce, Mike Galloway of the Calhoun County CVB, Beth Kennedy of the Marshall County CVB, Robert Brantley of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Cindy Chancellor of the Auburn/Opelika Tourism Board, Gretchen Rudkin of FarmLinks at Purcell Farms, Hugh Stump of the Etowah County Tourism Board.

Lynette Rice of the Tuscaloosa CVB, Karen Zelidon of the Sheraton Capstone Inn Tuscaloosa, Carmen Atchison of the  Sheraton Capstone Inn Tuscaloosa, Sharon Parker of Stafford Hotels/Holiday Inn Express/ Comfort Suites/Hampton Inn in Fultondale, Squee Bailey of the Decatur Morgan County CVB, Cheryl Bollinger of the Montgomery Chamber CVB, Jeff Pace of the McWane Center, Libby Jordan of Florence/Lauderdale Tourism, Cindy Isaacs of the Huntsville Madison County CVB, Kim Hood of the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce, Sandee McKee of the Birmingham Garden Inn, Sandi Sartain of the Best Western/Microtel Inn Decatur, Erika Mead of the Cullman Chamber of Commerce, Sheryl Ellis of Springhill Suites Birmingham, Marlo Webb of the Fairfield Orange Beach, Kalvin Harris of the Quality Inn/Holiday Inn Phenix City, Christi Phipps of DeSoto Caverns Park, Randy Jinks of Alabama State Parks, Sandra McGuire of the Leeds Chamber of Commerce, Chris Nelson of Best Western Carlson Suites, Kim Nall of the Governor's Mansion Gift Shop, James Potts of Comfort Suites Montgomery, Annette Scarborough of Hyatt Place Inverness, Shawanda Jones of Hyatt Place Inverness, Jameka Brown of Hyatt Place Downtown Birmingham, Hina Patel of the Hampton Inn Hoover, and Connie Bainbridge of the Prattville Chamber Commerce also attended.
 
Special Presentations included: Jennifer Leonard, Retirement Education Counselor, Great -West Retirement Services and Danny Ducksworth and Randy Westmoreland from the National Teachers Insurance Company. The 2011 Welcome Center Educational Retreat is set for Prattville and will be hosted by the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce.

The release of the new Alabama Civil War Trail brochure by the Alabama Tourism Department last week generated a large amount of press coverage across the state and nation. The brochure's release was covered by in-state newspapers and television stations, the Associated Press, Public Radio, Yahoo! News, and USA TODAY.   

From the Associated Press article "Alabama tourism agency plans push to promote state's Civil War attractions":

The state tourism agency is launching a new push to promote Civil War attractions across Alabama. The state has published a new brochure highlighting 47 sites and attractions linked to the war. It provides details on the state's 18 largest Civil War battles and includes the dates of 14 war re-enactments that are held each year. The head of the tourism agency, Lee Sentell, says the new effort comes ahead of next year's 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. Prominent sites linked to the war in Alabama include the state Capitol and the First White House of the Confederacy in Montgomery, along with Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan at the entrance to Mobile Bay. Alabama Civil War Trail brochures are available at the eight welcome centers across Alabama, at the Alabama Tourism Department office at 401 Adams Ave., Montgomery or by calling 1-800-ALABAMA (1-800-252-2262). The brochure is also available online as a PDF download at http://www.800alabama.com/media/media_room/Brochure/civil_war_trail.pdf.

More than 200 communities have participated in the Alabama Tourism Department's successful "Year of Alabama Small Towns and Downtowns" promotion during 2010.  This yearlong promotion invited tourists and former residents to visit Great Alabama Homecoming celebrations being held across the state. The Alabama Tourism Department offered to donate a historic marker to each town holding one of these homecoming celebrations. The historic markers describe the unique history and culture of each of the towns and are unveiled during the town's celebration. The text from each of the historical markers is featured online at www.alabamahomecoming.com along with descriptions of the homecoming celebrations.

"Great Alabama Homecoming" celebrations in December include:

Gulf Shores- No Place Like Home for the Holidays- Dec. 2
Coffeeville- Coffeeville Christmas Parade- Dec. 4
Millbrook- Spirit of Christmas Parade- Dec. 4
Mooresville- Homecoming Celebration- Dec. 4
Wilton- Christmas Parade- Dec. 7
Linden- ChiLLy Fest- Dec. 10-11
Dutton- Dutton Christmas Parade- Dec. 11
Westover- Westover Christmas Parade- Dec. 11

Agency Name 

National Institute of Food and Agriculture 

Description 

The U.S. agricultural population is poised to make a dramatic change - half of all current farmers are likely to retire in the next decade. According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, the average age of farm operators was 57 years. Farmers over the age 55 own more than half the farmland in the U.S. But the number of new farmers and ranchers over the age of 35 is increasing, as does the number of smaller farms and ranches nationwide. To address the needs of this changing generation, Section 7410 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub .L. No. 110-234) amended Section 7405 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 and made available in Fiscal Year 2009, $17.2 million to fund a Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP). According to these legislations, a beginning farm is considered to be one that is operated by one or more operators who have 10 years or less of experience operating a farm or ranch. In 2007, approximately 21 percent of family farms met that definition. 

Link to Full Announcement 

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program 

http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do;jsessionid=GdSJMQ4pvtCn3PkZlFmVVfmQGFLfVvp2LMGDW7qlNMSNdfJN8MNf!-845042754?oppId=58569&mode=VIEW 

If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please contact: 

NIFA Help Desk Phone: 202-401-5048 Business hours are M-F, 7:00 am -5:00 pm ET, excluding Federal holidays 

Qualified private, nonprofit and public including tribal) intermediary organizations proposing to carry out financial and technical assistance programs will be eligible to receive the funding. The intermediary will be required to provide matching funds in an amount at least equal to the RCDI grant. The respective minimum and maximum grant amount per intermediary is $50,000 and $300,000. The intermediary must provide a program of financial and technical assistance to a private nonprofit, community-based housing and development organization, a low-income rural community or a federally recognized tribe. 

Link to Full Announcement 

NOFA RCDI Funds 

If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please contact: 

Susan Woolard 202-720-1506 Fax: 202-690-0471 Susan Woolard 

The Alabama Governor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (GFBCI) is the state office that manages programs and initiatives designed to increase the number of Alabamians engaged in service and volunteering. Each year, as the State Service Commission, GFBCI awards AmeriCorps grants to nonprofit and public agencies that identify an unmet need in their community that will be addressed by AmeriCorps members that the organization recruits, trains, and manages.

AmeriCorps grants provide funding for items such as program staff, member living allowances, health insurance for full-time members, equipment, supplies and other associated program expenses. In the FY2011 grant competition, the funding priorities are projects that address compelling, unmet needs in one or a combination of the following five national service priority areas:  Education, Healthy Futures, Clean Energy/Environment, Veterans, and Economic Opportunity.

The application deadline for the Competitive Grants, are due in e-Grants and hard copy with additional application documents to GFBCI Office by 5:00 p.m. CST on November 15, 2010.   Click the link below for more information regarding this grant:http://www.servealabama.gov/AmeriCorps%20August%202008/Funding11.htm 

The application deadline for the Formula Grants, are due in e-Grants and hard copy with additional application documents to GFBCI Office by 5:00pm CST on April 1, 2011. Click the link below for more information regarding this grant: http://www.servealabama.gov/AmeriCorps%20August%202008/Funding11.htm