April 2007 marks the beginning of a new website specifically made to promote tourism in Pickens County. This is the second phase of the project begun through the Easley Chamber of Commerce to better promote our area.

The first phase, introduced in February 2007, was the production of the 4:30 minute DVD video showing the best of tour sites in our county. This video was produced under the direction of a committee of Pickens County citizens including, Carol Walsh, Vicki Rhodes, Dr. George Smith, Gerald Sweitzer, Roy Collins, Vicki Fletcher, Kathie Bobbitt, Anne Sheriff, Renee Watson, and Kent Dykes. Piedmont Video Productions, LLC produced the video and the enclosure cover. Funding was provided through accommodations funds from the County of Pickens and a grant from Region I of the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor.

The website www.tourpickenscounty.com objective is to showcase the 4:30 minute video online and then to provide links to additional tourism, business, economic development, education, and government in our area. When a tourist or potential relocater sees the video they will have the opportunity to learn in more detail about specific areas of interest from the additional links provided.

Sam Lawrence of Aletheia Web Design built the website. “Sam did a great job on the chamber website www.easleychamber.org and had the background and expertise to carry it further to a tourism website,” stated Kent Dykes, “It was a logical progression to ask him to build this website.” “I expect tourpickenscounty.com to be the premier tourism website for this area with a lot of internet visits.”