The State of North Carolina will provide $1.86 million in funding to the High Point Market Authority (HPMA) for the 2013 fiscal year, an increase of $200,000 from the prior year. The upcoming High Point Market, October 19 – 24, will be the first beneficiary of the expanded funding, of which $1.2 million will help cover transportation expenses and $655,000 will go towards marketing.

“We greatly appreciate this increase in funding from the State of North Carolina,” said Doug Bassett, the High Point Market Authority’s chairman of the board and president of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture. “These funds will allow us to continue to provide a first-class experience for the more than 75,000 visitors who come twice each year to the largest, most well-known and most important home furnishings industry trade show.”

Scenes from the 2013 Spring High Point Market

The High Point Market is North Carolina’s largest economic event with an annual impact of over $1 billion, providing tax-revenues to the State of $40-45 million. The Market, in existence for over 100 years, creates more than 13,000 jobs annually during Market weeks including construction, design planning and logistics.

Market is the largest concentration of international visitors in North Carolina in a one-week period; includes 180 buildings and over 10-million-square-feet of show space; and provides the equivalent economic benefit of three Super Bowls to the state in a single year, every year.

“The $1.86 million in funds provided by the State of North Carolina represents a fair compromise between the $2.0 million we requested and the $1.66 we received last year," said Bassett.

The budget also designates the funding as recurring, which means the legislature intends to provide the same funding in future years.