Its celebrity crush is Megan Fox. Its favorite television show is Lost, starring Matthew Fox. And its beverage of choice is a beer from – where else? – Sly Fox.

Yes, Monty the Fox is Montgomery County’s newest face, a furry mascot that is one of a myriad of slick marketing initiatives from the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board, Montco’s tourism agency, writes Kenneth Hilario for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The VFTCB has unveiled a “new adventure-focused brand” that represents “the agency’s largest out-of-market push to drive momentum in the market where tourism is at a record high.”

According to the latest data from Tourism Economics, visitors in 2016 directly spent a record $1.5 billion in Montgomery County, generating about $2.2 billion in economic impact. Visitors spent about $1.4 billion in 2015.

The PBJ indicated that Montco’s tourism industry supports almost 20,000 jobs. The industry generates about $960 million in labor income, and more than $300 million in local, state, and federal taxes.

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And Monty the Fox is the VFTCB’s latest brainchild and perhaps the first-ever county mascot.

The following is Monty’s bio from the VFTCB:

Montgomery Fox – Monty to his friends – was born and raised in Valley Forge National Historical Park. Monty had made a home for himself inside one of the recreated Continental Army huts. A friendly park ranger found him one day after leading tours of the area and the two became quick friends.

Monty told the ranger his story – how his great-great-great grandfather had been saved by General Washington and how his family had spent the next 200 years guarding the home where they still believed the General to live.

The ranger told Monty about Washington’s heroics in the war and how the world had changed since 1777. Excited and curious, Monty ventured outside the park for the first time, on a mission to explore.

He went on a shopping spree at King of Prussia Mall where he bought himself a new wardrobe and picked up an iPhone so he could tweet about his many adventures.

Click here to read more about Monty the Fox in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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