New Hazard Perry County Welcome Center Opens; Commission Posts Board, Funding

The Hazard Perry County Welcome Center hosted a ribbon-cutting on Friday, WYMT reported, and the Hazard / Perry County Tourism Commission has published its full board roster, public contact information and a downloadable tourism funding application on its public webpage; the commission lists its next meeting as March 25, 2026 at 5 PM. The Welcome Center is listed as the commission’s regular meeting site at 1133 North Main Street, Hazard, KY 41702.

The Commission’s public page names Terry Feltner as Chairperson and Franklin Fugate as Co-Chairperson, and lists John Epperson as Executive Director. Additional board members shown on the page include Fitz Steele, Tony Eversole and Breonna Douglas, with Marsha Bishop as Treasurer, Sallie Martin as Administrative Assistant and Michael Hughes as IT. The page header shows the organization as "Hazard / Perry County Tourism1" and includes site artifacts such as "Board of" and social icon placeholders.

WYMT said community members, local government officials, tourism board members and local business and AirBnB owners attended the grand opening. WYMT described the center as a "one-stop shop, where travelers can get to know the area and local organizations and groups can meet to discuss new ideas," and quoted Feltner: “Our mission and our goal is to bring tourism into our community, support the events that are already going on, looking at new events that we can do,” Feltner said. The local broadcaster reported the center is planned to boost the local economy and highlight the regions natural beauty and culture.

The commission page gives meeting details in full: "Hazard Perry County Tourism Commission meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 5:00 p.m. at the Welcome Center, 1133 North Main Street, unless otherwise posted. Open to the Public." The site also lists the next meeting explicitly as March 25, 2026 — 5 PM. WYMT identified John Epperson in its coverage as "the coordinator for the board" and also quoted him saying, “We can give directions, we’ll have flyers and pamphlets that we can let them take, maps and even help make arrangements for different things that they might want to attend.”

The tourism page posts practical contact and access information: physical address 1133 North Main Street, Hazard, KY 41702; mailing address P.O. Box 7099, Hazard, KY 41702; phone numbers 888-857-5263 and 606-487-1580; and email 18hpctourism20@gmail.com. Office hours are listed as Monday - Saturday 10-5. The page invites applicants with the full instruction: "If you are interested in applying for funding for a tourism project, please complete the funding application and return it by mail to the Tourism address or via email to 18hpctourism20@gmail.com. If you have any questions, please e-mail us. DOWNLOAD HPC TOURISM FUNDING APPLICATION."

The commission’s webpage also displays social prompts including "FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK: Hazard Perry County Tourism Commisssion" and "FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: HazardPerryCoTourism" and contains form artifacts such as "Success! Message received." For local organizations, the Hazard Perry Chamber lists its own executive leadership and events separately; Chamber names such as Betsy Clemons and Janet Smith appear on the Chamber page as additional community contacts.

The Welcome Center now serves as both a visitor hub and the commission’s meeting location; residents and organizations who want to apply for tourism funding or attend the commission’s open meetings can use the posted mailing address, phone numbers or 18hpctourism20@gmail.com to request the downloadable application or additional information ahead of the March 25, 2026 meeting.