On Feb. 28, the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, an organization that aims to increase the number of tourists to enhance the local economy, added four new members to its board: Craig Lloyd, Lisa Kaylie, Sally Greene and Creston Woods.
Laurie Paolicelli, executive director of the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, said interested applicants have to apply for a either a two-year or three-year term, which must then be approved by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners. The BOCC meets almost every month to track tourism growth in Orange County.
“Our job, at the end of the day, is to build and maintain a steady tourism industry,” Paolicelli said. “We've done that very successfully in Orange County.”
Lloyd serves as a partner for The Barn at Lloyd's Dairy, an event venue in Efland. He said his family has lived in Orange County for over 10 generations and being able to branch into agritourism has allowed the family's farm to survive.
“My dad likes to say that the reason that Orange County, the color of the soil was orange, is because it had our family and other families' blood, sweat and tears for generations,” he said.
Lloyd said he appreciates the opportunity to serve the Bureau and to represent the central and northern part of the county by showing visitors why the area is unique. He said events like Hillsborough's Hog Day, one of the county's oldest traditions and one of the oldest barbecue festivals in the state, can bring in visitors and expose them to different aspects of the area, influencing them to stay in Orange County.
Attracting more people to the community can provide an economic boost, he said, as tourism can help restaurants and other businesses, which in turn raises revenue that can improve facilities like schools and other programs.
“Tourism does bring a significant amount of funding into our area, and that trickles down to taxes,” Kaylie said. “Which also helps fund our schools and other services in the area.”
Kaylie is also the executive director for Extraordinary Ventures Inc., a nonprofit she said is focused on creating employment opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She said she is interested in promoting economic opportunities for these members of the workforce, who are often overlooked.
