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WSHJA <br />March 5,2017 <br />Senator Jim Honeyford <br />Way and Means,Vice-Chair Capital Budget Committee <br />112 Irv Newhouse Building <br />PO Box 40415 <br />Olympia,WA 98504 <br />Senator Judy Warnick <br />Chair,Economic Development Committee <br />103 Irv Newhouse Building <br />PO Box 40413 <br />Olympia,WA 98504 <br />Re:Washington State Horse Park --Covered Arena Project <br />Dear Senators: <br />I urge you to support the Washington State Horse Park application for $2.0 million in cahital funding <br />support for a Covered Arena and Associated Build-Out submitted by the Washington St te Horse Park <br />Authority. <br />As the Washington State Hunter Jumper Association,the strength of Washington's equestrian economy <br />is of vital importance to us.Importantly,the equestrian economy helps to feed the State's tourism <br />economy,within which the Washington State Horse Park plays a major role. <br />The 112-acre horse park,located in Cle Elum,is one of Washington's premiere destination venues, <br />attracting over 30 thousand visitors annually,95 percent of whom are nonlocal.The Park,due to its <br />unique ability to draw people from outside the local and state area,garners over $2.5 million in <br />overnight stays annually.Currently,the Park's economic impact is $3.4 million.With the.addition of the <br />Covered Arena,the Park will be enabled to expand its operating season from five to nine months, <br />broaden the size and scope of its equestrian events,and ultimately generate more tourism revenue not <br />only for Cle Elum and Kittitas County,where over 18 percent of jobs are in the Accommodations and <br />Foodservice Sector,but also for Washington State.The economic impact of enabling the Park to widen <br />its services is considerable. <br />The Washington State Hunter Jumper Association itself has been enabled,through the Washington State <br />Horse Park,to support numerous top quality horse shows,benefitting its membership while also