Perry hosted another successful Iowa Bike Trail Tourism Conference last week.

Bob Wilson with the Perry Chamber says around 70 people attended the third annual event.

“It’s neat to be in a conference where everybody has the same agenda, the same goal, the same vision and just sharing ideas back and forth.”

Wilson says Perry continues to be a mentor for communities who are looking to capitalize on recreational trails and tourism.

“It’s a great event, I learned a lot, a lot of networking.  Bondurant has come a long way on their trail project so it’s really neat, they’re looking at what we’ve done and kind of bouncing ideas back and forth.  Those bikers are dollar signs and that’s what it comes down to is it’s an economic development generator, it is a tourism tool.  The more we attract these people to get into our community, to get off the trail, to put more money into our downtown and all of our businesses, the better it is.”

Wilson says once the Raccoon River Valley Trail and High Trestle Trail are connected between Perry and Woodward those economic opportunities will skyrocket and he looks forward to progress being made on that project in the future.