Dippers Unveils New Website

The Martinsville-Henry County EDC’s Tourism & Film Division (VisitMartinsville) recently awarded a tourism marketing grant to Dippers Ice Cream, a retail business located on Greensboro Road in Ridgeway.

Dippers, owned and operated by local family team Rodney, Tracy and Andrew Cox, is a shop specializing in homemade ice cream. The business carries a variety of gourmet flavors that changes weekly and has expanded this year to also offer ice cream by the pint as well as ice cream cakes and pies. 

The Cox family applied for a Tourism Marketing Grant from the EDC to acquire matching funds to market her business with a website. The grant program funds 50% of approved marketing project costs up to $1,000.

The website, www.DippersHomemadeIceCream.com, was designed locally by HD Web Studio and allows customers to discover what flavors are offered each week.  According to Tracy Cox, “We are extremely excited about the launch of our new website. The website is an avenue for us to reach our customers with information regarding our business, ice cream flavors, menu options and details about ice cream cakes and pies. Since we have reduced hours for the winter, the website has already proven to be a valuable asset to our business in providing a way to still be accessible to our customers and highlight our holiday selections.”

Cox added that, “We would like to thank the EDC for the opportunity to obtain the marketing grant for this website. These grants are instrumental in helping many tourism-related businesses in this area, like Dippers, continue to grow and expand.”

According to Jennifer Doss, Director of Tourism for Martinsville-Henry County, “This project is exciting because it has allowed a business that would normally be perceived as being seasonal to thrive in the shoulder season and generate new jobs.” In addition to the managing staff, Dippers has 10 paid employees during peak season and is able to keep two employed during the winter due to the influx of holiday ice cream pint, cake and pie orders.

The staff at Dippers is currently taking orders for Christmas desserts and holiday flavors by the pint are sold on-site each Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m.

A limited number of marketing grants are still available to tourism-related businesses and events. An application is available online at www.VisitMartinsville.com or may be obtained by emailing Tourism@YesMartinsville.com. 

Additional information about this and other area shopping and dining venues is available online at www.VisitMartinsville.com and at the state-certified Martinsville-Henry County Visitor Center at 54 West Church Street in Martinsville.

The mission of the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corporation is to create new job opportunities and expand the tax base for the area.  The organization strives to support and develop local industry, as well as market Martinsville-Henry County globally as an exceptional place to live, work and play.

The EDC is a public-private partnership between the City of Martinsville, Henry County, the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce, the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber’s Partnership for Economic Growth (C-PEG) and the Harvest Foundation of the Piedmont.