Director wants to boost tourism

The new executive director has been on the job one month.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- If Stephanie L. Sferra's vision of the future comes true, tour buses will be making a lot more stops in Trumbull County.
Sferra, hired in May as executive director of the Trumbull County Tourism Bureau, introduced herself to the county's fledgling tourism community Wednesday.
It was the bureau's first membership meeting, held in a tent behind the bureau's offices in the former Land Office building on Mahoning Avenue, with a view of the Mahoning River.
Sferra, a Youngstown native, said she was eager to accept the position because Trumbull County has a lot of tourist activities to promote and she can have an impact.
"I know there are tour operators who are looking for new places to go," Sferra said, adding that she has worked with decision makers in that business during her 16 years in the tourism industry around Washington, D.C.
She said that experience will help her convince that industry to give Trumbull County a try.
Sferra has been on the job for one month, and one of her first jobs was to send 300 membership packets to businesses around the county. The drive has produced 61 dues-paying members so far. Her goal is to have 200.
Another important job for her, she said, is to network with the travel industry. "We have to reintroduce them to us," she said.
Having worked on the Web site at her former job in Charles County, Md., Sferra said she will be taking a lot of cues from the site there and try to create something similar for Trumbull County.
Visitor's guide
Another important job will be to produce a county visitor's guide, but she said that project may take a while. She added that promoting tourism here will mean including information about other counties besides Trumbull.
"Tourists don't know where the county lines or state lines are," she said. "They just want to have a good time."
"Tourism affects all of us," said Mary Ann Porinchak, tourism board president and executive director of the National Packard Museum. "Restaurants, hotels, gas stations. People visit our parks, play games at our ballfields. Tourism runs through all our lives."
She added that when the 17th annual Packard Car Show hits Warren July 21-23, visitors will come from a long way away. "They can't go everywhere and be treated the way they are here," she said.
The board
The tourism board began operations in December after being created by the Trumbull 100 organization with the help of Trumbull commissioners and their legal adviser, assistant Prosecutor Jason Earnhart.
Membership meetings will be held twice a year with the next one coming in November, at which time the membership will begin to elect its board members. The current 10 members were appointed by Trumbull 100.
The bureau operates on the half of the county's 4 percent lodging tax revenue. The bureau's finance report showed that it currently has liquid assets of $147,128.
In all, Sferra has more than 30 years of experience in marketing communications, including two years at the Robert A. Sherman and Associates advertising agency in Warren, 1983-85. She graduated from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Her salary is $50,000 per year and a $300 per month stipend for not needing health insurance.
runyan@vindy.com