During the Kankakee County Convention and Visitors Bureau’s year-in-review presentation, several standing ovations came from the audience. The applause had less to do with the KCCVB’s (also known as Visit Kankakee County) accomplishments over the last year, and more to do with its leadership from executive director Staci Wilken.

After six years with the CVB, Wilken submitted her resignation on July 5.

“Today, we’re going to acknowledge what Staci Wilken has done for the Visitors Bureau,” said Laurie Cyr, the CVB board president.

“During her six years at the CVB, she has catapulted this organization to be enamored by CVBs across the state, and we’re so proud of the efforts that she’s done,” Cyr said, noting the 609 campaign headed by Wilken became second-highest in the state behind a city of Chicago campaign.

“Leading her team, she won awards at the state conference for our Visitors Guide and video content, and she has gained a reputation as a fierce leader and a strong woman and we are so proud of her,” Cyr continued.

Cyr finished her remarks by presenting Wilken with a gift and well wishes for her next journey.

Wilken returned to the microphone after a 30-second standing ovation, thanking her team, her son and others who have supported her journey.

“This is the last public appearance I’ll make as director of this organization, and it’s with the most grateful heart I say ‘thank you,’ to my team, to the supportive members of my board, to the community … and to the residents of Kankakee County. You have each made an impact on me in my six years leading the marketing arm of our community.”

“I challenge you to continue making waves, to be bold in your vision, ethical in your leadership, transparent in your governance and graceful in your advocacy,” she said. “We are better together, and I pray that the way forward finds each of you walking towards the same goal, both men and women sitting at the table.”

<strong>Year-in-review</strong>

Following a luncheon that found more than 100 attendees at GatheringPoint Church in Bourbonnais, the Visit Kankakee County team each took a turn at the podium to highlight what’s been accomplished in the last year.

Karla Flannery, Deputy Director of the Illinois Office of Tourism, spoke at the beginning of the presentation, sharing that, prior to the pandemic, Illinois tourism was responsible for employing over 600,000 people.

Different local businesses were highlighted, discussing their collaboration and benefit from working with the CVB. One such mention was the CVB’s partnership with River Valley Metro.

Earlier this summer, the CVB and River Valley unveiled the new look of the Kankakee to Midway Airport shuttle, which features wrapping highlighting the latest Visit Kankakee County campaign.

During the presentation, Wilken noted that this has been on her “partnership wishlist” for some time.

Jay Graham of GrahamSpencer, a Rockford-based marketing agency, discussed a current marketing campaign his company is working on with the CVB. He shared that social media engagement has increased and is higher than the average reach of tourism-related social media content.

His numbers showed that 220,188 people have been reached by the campaign since Dec. 1, 2021.

The teams began building the campaign in 2019, and Graham described it as “a virtual love letter to your region.”

Due to the pandemic, the team shifted gears to “make the most of outdoor assets.” In addition to social media, much of the campaign (which includes commercials, streaming advertisements and more) is performing higher than the industry average.

<strong>By the numbers</strong>

Like with any annual presentation, numbers and statistics find their way into the spotlight. Visitor spending was discussed, and was on an annual uptick up until 2020 with the pandemic.

In a five-year span, visitor spending, in millions, was: $137.4 (2016); $142.4 (2017); $151.9 (2018); $157.5 (2019); $122.6 (2020).

In this section of the presentation, it was noted that each household in Illinois would need to be taxed an additional $882 to replace the visitor-generated taxes received by state and local governments in 2021.

“This revenue keeps taxes down. You can’t make that up with a gift card,” said Wilken, referring to the village of Bradley having a $16 million budget surplus and its plans to provide each village household a gift card worth up to $120 early next year.

• Visit Kankakee County interns creating a pop-up-on-wheels shop for KaCo The Exchange 

• Testimonials from the village of Manteno, Locavore Farm, Knack Brewing and Fermentations, Olivet Nazarene University, Adventure Commons and more

• Visit Kankakee County's recent move to 275 E. Court Street, Kankakee