by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“I love this place. Tourism allows us to keep nature and allow people to visit it instead of tearing it down,” said Taylor Honeycutt, Grundy County native and a cave-tour guide at the Caverns. Honeycutt left the Plateau for a life elsewhere but soon returned. His comment, captured in a video created by the South Cumberland Tourism Partnership, underscores the backstory about the new name of the SCTP and the organization’s new vision, “Thirty-one Points of Light.” July 26, at Beersheba Springs Grace Chapel, SCTP President Joe Gray and coordinator Iva Michelle Russell talked about that vision and its challenges and invited a glimpse of a future where history, tourism, and economic improvement intersect. “The points of light” range from the practical to the fantastic — a business incubation center, connecting local makers to markets, world-class mountain biking, a science adventure center, kayaking and paddling on the upper Elk River, reintroducing resident elk, and an elk herd viewing site. Yet, a visitor cautioned, “You’re proposing another Gatlinburg.” Is that the case?

For years an extraction economy, removal of natural resources such as coal and timber, fueled economic growth in Tennessee. “After the extraction economy went away, [the state] had to reconfigure their economic drivers,” Russell said. At present, tourism is the biggest economic driver in the state, with agriculture as a close second, primarily because Jack Daniels Distillery falls in the “agriculture” category, Russell observed. She praised forward-thinking Grundy County Mayor Michael Brady who recognized the potential of tourism. Brady initiated a hotel-motel tax in 2015 and seized on opportunities for state financial aid for distressed counties. Russell pointed to the Mountain Goat Trail, Coalmont Off-Highway Vehicle Park, and the Caverns as among the initial tourism-powered economic drivers. “Then 2020 happened [the pandemic], and everyone found our mountain. They were escaping the cities, they were escaping where they were locked up. We had almost one million people coming to our three state parks. Once you taste freedom in our parks, you want to come here again and again.” The South Cumberland Tourism Partnership formed to guide the growth, funded by the hotel-motel tax, with the blessing of the county commission and the nine area communities, Altamont, Beersheba Springs, Coalmont, Gruetli-Laager, Monteagle, Palmer, Pelham, Sewanee, and Tracy City.

For the past two years, Grundy County has been the number one tourism region in the state. “We’re the poster child,” Gray said. The growth brought hundreds of new jobs, both in construction and “career” jobs in new businesses. But the numbers also showed something else, as well. “In Tennessee the average visitor spends $212 per day,” Gray said. “In Grundy County, they spend $83. We need more stores and retail and groceries and restaurants. There are not enough places to spend money.” Also concerning, “People on the Plateau spend 60 percent of their spending money—groceries, restaurant, retail, healthcare—somewhere else. It’s our responsibility to create more opportunities for our kids and our economy.”

The name change from the South Cumberland Tourism Partnership to the South Cumberland Partnership recognizes that responsibility, what Russell described as “to be us on purpose and protect our way of life.”

Gray acknowledged the challenge of not becoming another Gatlinburg, especially since Grundy County has no zoning or codes. As Russell stressed, “We’re freedom lovers. Don’t tell us what to do.” Taking a different tact, SCP will draft a “design guide” for builders and developers offering advice and strategies for maintaining the unique ambiance of the South Cumberland. Gray emphasized plateau communities did not meet the requirements of most franchises, “We won’t get a Walmart or Kroger. The businesses will be our own people opening stores and shops.” He cited the example of the reimagined Beersheba Spring Market which estimates 60 percent of its clientele are visitors to the area. Russell championed the idea of “creating a culture of the food closest to you” both for dining out and at home. She also insisted, due to geographic limitations to providing water and sewer service, “We can never have big development.” Russell initially opposed the state park system, of the opinion, “It took money from the property tax rolls, and they were locking us away from our land.” Her mindset has changed, “Thank goodness they did. We are blessed by our natural protections.”