Local officials see eye to eye with Congressman Sam Farr’s
tourism vision to bring the people without the congestion, the
wealth without the sprawl and the commerce without the chaos.
Local officials see eye to eye with Congressman Sam Farr’s tourism vision to bring the people without the congestion, the wealth without the sprawl and the commerce without the chaos.
San Benito County has long relied on agriculture as an economic force, and he doesn’t see a need to go down the path other communities, like Gilroy, have taken to be strong economically. The county doesn’t need big box stores to be successful; it can capitalize on it’s natural resources to bring in money, he said.
“We’ve put all our eggs in one basket to attract businesses. We can’t depend on landing the next Costco or Wal-Mart Mart as our economic future,” Farr said. “We’re better than that.”
Combining the resources the county has had for hundreds of years – the land, the agriculture, the open space and natural beauty – with the amenities in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties will draw people to the region as a whole, which will in turn will bolster San Benito’s economy, Farr said.
“If we put it all together nobody can beat us,” he said. “There’s no place in the US that can offer all this stuff. Nobody.”
Off the Chain Bikes owner Brian Lucas believes the idea is a good one, but that more attractions need to be built to bring people to the county.
If the county put money into building a BMX race track or made some of the open lands in the county more accessible for activities such as bike riding or hiking, more people would come, he said.
“It would draw a lot of people from the San Jose area because this county’s still wide open and those people drive hours to go to different areas for different activities,” Lucas said. “It’s not very far, and they’re more than willing to drive 45 minutes if something was set up here.”
Farr met with the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce a week and a half ago, and challenged them to brainstorm ideas about generating more tourism with the resources available, and to begin working with organizations in other counties, he said.
“I’m willing to work with them… but I don’t have the ability to follow through – it’s up to them,” he said. “The ball’s in their court.”
Farr’s vision epitomizes the best of both worlds for the county in that people will come here, like what they see and do, spend money and go home, said Theresa Kiernan, executive director of the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce.
This idea parallels work the San Benito County Tourism Committee, a sub-committee of the chamber, has been working on for over a year, Kiernan said. The committee’s tourism magazine, San Benito County Destinations, has been issued in Santa Cruz, Monterey and Santa Clara counties to help get the word out about San Benito’s wineries, historic ranches and trails for off-road enthusiasts.
Scott Fuller, chairman of the committee and vice president and general manager of San Juan Oaks Golf Club, said the committee didn’t lobby Farr to meet with them, but that the meeting just “made sense.”
At his first-ever meeting with the committee, Farr promised to help garner more tourism by lending the technical experience of his office staff, Fuller said.
The committee plans to ask Farr’s office for information about possible grants, specifically that deal with historic preservation, and hope to meet with him at an undetermined date in the future, Fuller said.
“This (vision) is not new to him,” Fuller said. “It makes sense considering the resources we do have – the ag land, the history and the beauty of the county.”
The chamber has also partnered with the Central Coast Tourism Committee, which includes Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, to coordinate efforts to advertise the amenities all three counties have to offer, Kiernan said.
“The more heads doing the job, the easier the job is… The more we all work together the more successful we’ll be,” Kiernan said. “People are into getting in their cars and driving someplace.”
Bringing tourists from San Jose and the Bay Area into the county is only part of the package Farr and the tourism committee are working on, Kiernan said.
Educating local residents to the top-notch wineries, outdoor recreation including the wealth of activities at the Pinnacles National Monument and rich cultural history will all help increase the county’s economic prosperity, she said. But community members also needs to get involved to make it work, she said.
“Like anything that happens in San Benito County, it takes some time. Our group’s been working on this for over a year,” Kiernan said. “This is a viable vision. How long it takes depends on how many people are willing to use their time, talents and money to make this vision work.”
