Chamber of Commerce finally hires new director

Dan Marshall tapped to lead revitalized organization

The Crested Butte-Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce has hired a new executive director. Longtime valley resident Dan Marshall has agreed to head the organization. Marshall most recently has been doing development work with St. Vincent Hospital in Leadville and has lived in the Crested Butte area since the mid-80s.

“I am excited to be part of a new chamber,” Marshall said. “It’s time to move forward and I think there’s a board that’s engaged and committed to move forward. Hopefully we can get on the same page with the two town councils and reconnect with the community. It is important to rebuild the bridges with both town councils. The chamber needs to promote all the great businesses that help make Crested Butte what it is.”
“We really feel the chamber has turned a corner and is heading in a positive direction,” said board president Andy Eflin. “We are excited to have Dano on board since he’s been a part of this community for so many years. He understands Crested Butte and we think he’ll be a great liaison with the local businesses that are members of the chamber.”
Eflin admits the chamber has been experiencing some rocky times lately with the termination of the last executive director, revised service agreements with the two towns that took awhile to work out and having to deal with an extremely tight financial situation.
But the board and town councils have signed new service agreements that will provide BOLT monies from both towns to help fund the chamber operations and outline better lines of communication and accountability. Gunnison chamber executive director Tammy Scott has been helping to guide the Crested Butte organization through the transition period. She will be available to help Marshall with any questions but will be relinquishing her consulting duties.
The board has also set as a goal to retire a $50,000 line of credit with Community Banks over the next five years. To accomplish that, $8,000 to $12,000 will be budgeted each year.
“It will be tight for awhile but we all want the chamber to be doing what it is supposed to do, and that’s promote the businesses in and around Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte,” said Marshall.
The chamber board has also hired Jalene Szuba and Adam Stichter to help coordinate events for this summer. They will be responsible for getting permits, placing ads in publications and getting committees together on various aspects of the events. The events include Crested Butte Bike Week, the Fourth of July and the sidewalk sales.
In that vein, the chamber board is working with CBMR’s Christian Robertson, Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association’s John Chandler and local biking enthusiast Dave Ochs to enhance the summer mountain bike races. Robertson will focus on the Wildflower Rush bike race. Ochs is handling the Fat Tire 40 and Chandler is focused on the Chainless World Championships.
Marshall said he is tying up loose ends with his current position and will officially begin his duties by the end of the month.