Martinsville, Virginia

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Spencer-Penn Receives Tourism Marketing Grant

New SignThis past year the Martinsville-Henry County EDC’s Tourism Division awarded a tourism marketing grant to Spencer-Penn Centre, a community center and special-events venue in Spencer, Virginia. 

Once a school that served the small rural community of Spencer for seventy-seven years, the Spencer-Penn Centre continues to serve the community though classes, workshops, concerts, receptions and conferences. The Centre is also recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.

Spencer-Penn Centre applied for a Tourism Marketing Grant from the EDC to acquire matching funds to market their venue with a new and larger road-side sign along Highway 58. The grant program funds 50% of approved marketing project costs up to $1,000.

According to Jennifer Doss, Director of Tourism for Martinsville-Henry County, “Spencer-Penn Centre is a gem in our community. They offer many high quality events but the size and age of their previous sign really limited their marketing ability to passing traffic. The new sign is significantly larger to catch attention of the fast moving traffic and the colors and fonts add consistency to Spencer-Penn’s marketing and branding efforts.”

The new sign was custom designed by a committee of volunteers and fabricated locally by Ridgeway Signs. It plays off of the Centre’s logo and color scheme to provide brand continuity. Ben Robertson, committee chair for the sign project stated that "The new sign represents the continual commitment to our community that our volunteers and concerned citizens have."  

Spencer-Penn will use their sign to promote rental space as well as upcoming events such as the April 11th Pig Cookin’ Contest and Craft Show.

Additional information about this and other area venues is available online at www.VisitMartinsville.com and at the state-certified Martinsville-Henry County Visitor Center at 191 Fayette Street in Martinsville.