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Americanafest has growing econ impact on the mid-state

NASHVILLE Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Earlier this week the Americana Music Association announced nominees for the 2017 Americana Music Awards. Those prizes will be handed out in September during the group’s Americanafest conference and music festival. Now word that the annual event’s economic impact on Middle Tennessee is growing rapidly.

The Nashville Chamber of Commerce recently completed an economic impact study for the festival and conference. Study author Garrett Harper provided WMOT with the hard numbers.

“Nearly $15 million --$14.9 million—that’s generated as the dollars circulated through the event and the conference, and then nearly $9 million of that is retained in the region.”

Harper says those estimates include things like ticket sales, conference registration fees, hotels, and food.

Harper notes that the rate of growth in the festivals economic impact is even more impressive. He sys that in 2013 the event pulled in $10 million in total impact with $6 million retained by the mid-state economy. That’s a 49 percent increase in just three years.

Harper goes on to say that beyond the dollar and cents, there’s a less tangible but equally important impact the diverse Americana community is having on Middle Tennessee.

“A multiplicity of interests in terms of the attendees, the media coverage nationally and internationally…that it makes its mark in a number of very qualitative ways that are just as important as some of the quantitative measures.”

WMOT Music News reporter Craig Havighurst was on hand earlier this week for the naming of this year’s Americana Music Awards nominees. The Awards show will be held at the Ryman Auditorium on September 13.