Carbon County is gearing up for a state conference that will bring thousands to the area in August.

On Thursday, the county commissioners and Carl Wilgus of Pocono Mountain Visitors Bureau discussed the 2016 County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania annual conference, which will be held at Split Rock Resort from Aug. 7 to 10."We're getting prepared for the upcoming CCAP conference," Wilgus told the board.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein thanked Wilgus for PMVB's help with organizing the event, which will draw county commissioners and their families from the 67 counties in the state.Nothstein said that this is the first time the annual CCAP conference has come to Carbon County, at least since he was commissioner."We're looking forward to it," he said, adding that the county is expecting thousands of people to stay in the area and use local amenities during the conference.Carbon County made a pitch to bring the CCAP conference to Split Rock five years ago during the vetting period. CCAP rotates its conference locations throughout the state so commissioners are not forced to travel long distances every year.The nominations are then given to the conference committee, which looks at the sites and makes a recommendation. Five years ago, Carbon County was not the committee's choice, but the board felt differently."The voters went against the recommendation of the committee," Nothstein said. "That was a first that has ever happened, I believe. I am happy we were able to accomplish that."He said that the board felt Split Rock provided enough amenities and felt it was a good location."One commissioner even compared Split Rock to Seven Springs (Mountain Resort in southwestern Pennsylvania) with all the amenities there," Nothstein said."We're used to traveling to Erie, Pittsburgh or Hershey, so for us to have it in our backyard in Carbon County, we're very excited," Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said.The four-day conference will provide officials will a number of meetings, exhibitions and extracurricular activities in and around the resort, as well as throughout the county.