South Cumberland Partnership Announced
(August 4, 2025) — A local nonprofit organization, Tennessee’s South Cumberland Tourism Partnership, has been renamed as the “South Cumberland Partnership” (SCP) in recognition of a new dual mission to support tourism revenue growth and tourism-related economic opportunity for citizens of the South Cumberland region, according to Joe Gray, SCP President.
“Our board of directors and leadership team have undertaken a months-long review of our organization’s strengths and opportunities, and have emerged from that process enlightened and refocused not only on our original mission of growing tourism-related tax revenues, but also coming to the realization that we have an opportunity to improve the lives of all of the region’s citizens by working to channel the economic benefits produced by our outdoor and heritage tourism economy into projects that will create new business opportunities and good new jobs for our local citizens,” Gray explained.
To begin acting on the opportunities that came to light during SCP’s review process, the nonprofit organization has identified 20 specific projects for which it will be an advocate and facilitator, Gray noted. The projects range from creating a business incubator facility to providing career advancement, training and certification programs, to creating new ways for visitors to spend money in the local economy during their stay in this area.
“We looked at Tennessee Department of Tourist Development (TDTD) data which showed that visitors to our region only spend about a third of Tennessee’s daily per-visitor average, in large part due to the lack of visitor-friendly establishments such as restaurants, retail stores, and outdoor recreation businesses and facilities,” Gray said. “We want to be above that average.”
“We expect that our initial set of projects — some large, some small, all important — will address opportunities to grow visitor expenditures while providing new and exciting ways for our residents — especially our young adults — to pursue new career opportunities, and for all of us to benefit from the successes of the locally-owned businesses that will result,” he added.
The South Cumberland Partnership has launched a new community-focused website, SouthCumberlandPartnership.org, which presents details about each of its initiatives, and a place where the public is invited to receive updates about their work, and can volunteer to help advance SCP’s projects from “idea to reality”. There is also a video on the site which explains why locally-owned businesses are so vital to the area’s economy, and the potential that tourist visitation holds for creating jobs and improving lives in the South Cumberland region.