The 30A Company earned high accolades during Visit South Walton‘s annual meeting Wednesday night at the LakeHouse at WaterColor Inn & Resort.
The company took home two awards in the Perfect in South Walton competition: Grand Champion for Best Local Media Source and People’s Choice for Best Local Retail Brand.
The digital branch of The 30A Company has a wide-reaching platform of web and social media sites, including 30a.com, the hyper-local news site SouthWalton.com, the newly launched 30aWeddings.com and the internet-based radio station 30A Radio.
The 30A Gear retail line includes a robust online store and four storefront locations in Seagrove, Gulf Place, Rosemary Beach and Destin Commons, all of which opened within the past year.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our team on both the digital and retail sides of the company,” said JoAnn Ribaudo, Senior Vice President of The 30A Company.
“The company’s growth has exploded since last October when we had zero employees. Now we have about 30 talented, hard-working locals on our team and we couldn’t do this without them.”
Mike Ragsdale, the company’s founder, was also selected for the prestigious Van Ness Butler Jr. Award for achievement in hospitality. The award recognizes excellence in hospitality service, tourism marketing, advertising, promotion and contributions to the local community.
Ragsdale joins the ranks of other award winners including Robert Davis, the founder of Seaside, and MC Davis, a conservationist who set aside much of the land north of South Walton for preservation and established the EO Wilson Biophilia Center near Freeport.
“It’s exciting to see local tourism strategies focusing on quality over quantity,” said Ragsdale. “The mission is no longer to bring more people to South Walton, it’s to attract the right kind of guests here again and again.
“We want visitors who share a deep respect for our environment, a sincere love of our communities and a passion for living the simple beach life that we locals enjoy every day.”
Learn more about The 30A Company here.
Find more information about Visit South Walton and their Perfect in South Walton awards at visitsouthwalton.com.
Check out this video from the ceremony: