The Meetings Mean Business (MMB) grant program helps destinations by providing financial assistance for facility costs or host destination expenses as you bid for regional and national meetings or conventions.
Why You Should Apply
Attracting meetings and conventions generates significant economic impact from additional room nights and visitor spending.
Hosting a successful regional or national conference can raise a destination’s profile among meeting and event planners, therefore generating more meeting and event sales.
Securing grant funding for a bid can encourage further sponsorship and partnerships for the convention in your destination.
Destination can bid on a variety of different kinds of meetings and conventions that best fits their business model, including but not limited to associations and organization meetings, trade shows, reunions, educational or social meetings.
Guidelines
The fund has $110,000 per fiscal year available for matching grants. Destinations may apply for 50 percent of the costs for convention facility rental, in-community convention transportation or host costs, up to a maximum of $30,000 during the State fiscal year.
This grant does NOT fund in-state events that are regularly scheduled or those that rotate destinations within the state.
Organizations receiving funding from Meetings Mean Business fund may not apply for funding from Joint Effort Marketing grant fund for the same event, during the same fiscal year.
If you’ve never used the electronic grant system, please contact the Grants Coordinator to set up your organizational account. See the Electronic Grant Program User Manual for additional instructions.
MMB Grant Deadlines
All applications are due by 11:59 p.m.
January 1
April 1
September 1
Guidance
The Tourism Development Specialists and Grants Coordinator are available to review grant applications before the final submission. To ensure the best MMB grant application possible, we offer feedback and support throughout the entire process. Reach out to us anytime for assistance to take advantage of our expertise.
