The Great Smoky Mountains area—the crown jewel of Tennessee tourism— didn’t grow without a little government help.

A bill passed in the early 1970s bestowed special resort status on the area, allowing it to keep a larger portion of state-shared taxes to fund tourism projects. That “extra” yearly revenue—recently figured at $5 million a year—is credited with keeping the tourism machine of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge well-oiled.

Taking a page from this success, a similar act was passed last year by the Tennessee General Assembly aimed at increasing investment in rural communities along the Tennessee River in West Tennessee. Sponsored by influential lawmaker Rep. Randy Rinks (D-Savannah), the Tennessee River Resort District Act (TRRD) allows eight “economically distressed” counties near the river to claim special resort status, and by extension, a greater share of locally generated state-shared taxes, as long as about half of the total refund is used for tourism-related expenditures. This could be anything from infrastructure to marketing or advertising campaigns.

Also included in the act is a provision allowing certain establishments within three miles of the river to be licensed by the state to sell liquor by the drink. Hardin County Mayor Kevin Davis says as a result of that provision alone several major hotel and restaurant chains are already scouting area locations.

Though economically distressed counties up and down the Tennessee River are eligible for the status, Hardin County, home to popular tourist destination Pickwick Lake, has to date taken the lead. Both Hardin County and its county seat Savannah voted to accept TRRD status.

Savannah Mayor Bob Shutt says he has high hopes that the area’s growth as a tourist destination will lure industries–and higher paying jobs–back to the area. “The act is the most important thing to happen in Savannah and Hardin County in the last 25 years,” says Shutt, who predicts the act will result in “more changes for the city in the next 10 years than it saw in the past 50.”

History shows the Tennessee River provided a steady stream of commerce to both Native American tribes and Tennessee’s earliest settlers. By attaching resort status to the river in the here and now, chances are much improved that the river can now breathe economic life back into a handful of struggling West Tennessee counties.