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economy. <br />The various State and County development agencies subscribe to a goal of creating <br />additional major tourist attractions. The Washington Horse Park would function in fnuch <br />the same way as a major sports arena or concert center where people come from a <br />wide area in order to watch events. Tourism is an important industry because it brings <br />substantial revenue into the economy without significantly burdening local services, <br />particularly schools. <br />An increased number of equestrian events would also support those businesses in the <br />State serving the horse industry - farriers, feed and hay suppliers, vetednarlans and the <br />like. Increased interest in horses could also be expected to result in increased business <br />for horse dealers, stables and tack shops. Economic models estimate that over 7% of <br />the Overall Economic Impact occurring in the State due to the Horse Park would flow <br />directly to the state in the form of taxes. <br />While.these Impacts were calculated using standard economic methodology, it must be <br />noted that most of the forecasted events at the horse park are transfers of existing <br />shows at other facilitles. Only truly new events will create new spending, employment <br />and tax -revenue. <br />VI RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE <br />A major task of this study was to make specific recommendations as to the appropriate <br />organizational structure needed to acquire control of the site, solicit funds to construct <br />improvements and successfully operate the facility over the long term. In this section <br />we recommend an appropriate organization structure for the WSHP Authority Board of <br />Directors based upon our interaction with the management of other horse parks, with <br />46 <br />