Editor s Note: This story is No. 6 in a series looking at the top 10 stories of 2020 for the Sun Journal, counting down from 10 to 1 from Dec. 23 to Jan. 1.
The Craven County Tourism Development Authority drew attention in September with the hiring of an inexperienced, Raleigh-based marketing agency BluePrint Business Communications. The approval of a new $350,000 per year contract came following the TDA’s decision not to extend a one-year contract to High Tide Creative, the Bridgeton business that had handled the TDA’s marketing work for more than a decade.
The loss of the TDA contract, which was the company’s largest account, led High Tide Creative to lay off at least one employee, according to owner Todd Willis.