San Benito County tourism committee backs 'Home of Pinnacles' branding push

The San Benito County Tourism Committee on Dec. 10 recommended that county staff pursue low‑cost branding steps to promote the county as the “Home of Pinnacles,” including a proclamation and adding the slogan to the county logo and formal communications.

Gracie Rodriguez, county staff, presented a staff report outlining options that ranged from a non‑monetary proclamation to low‑cost graphic changes and partnerships with agencies including Pinnacles National Park. “This would be a proclamation to declare San Benito County as home of Pinnacles,” Rodriguez said, presenting a draft proclamation and a menu of non‑monetary steps the county could take.

Committee members expressed broad support. One member said the Pinnacles Gateway Partners account may have about $15,000 available that could be used for modest branding expenses, and several members favored starting with the proclamation and a simple logo ribbon to include the “home of Pinnacles” slogan. Commissioner Stevens said a proclamation is “a no brainer” to get the ball rolling and urged bringing uniform design elements — color, font and imagery — to partner jurisdictions so the slogan appears consistently in websites, press releases and city communications.

Staff and committee members discussed encouraging partner agencies and cities, such as the City of Hollister and San Juan Bautista, to adopt the slogan in their communications. Rodriguez said the county could provide partner jurisdictions with official artwork, fonts and guidance and could invite Pinnacles Partnership and other stakeholders to a Board of Supervisors meeting when the item is considered.

The committee agreed there was consensus direction to prepare the proclamation, update logo options to include a slogan ribbon, and assemble placement recommendations for communications channels. Chair noted staff would bring materials back to the Board of Supervisors for a decision, targeting the Dec. 16 meeting if feasible or otherwise in January.

Next steps: staff will prepare a proclamation and uniform assets for partner use and forward the recommendation to the Board of Supervisors and the affected cities for consideration.