CB council on board with new Chamber of Commerce direction

Updating the services provided at the visitor center

By Mark Reaman

Crested Butte-Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce officials were able to give some confidence of a positive change in direction to the Crested Butte town council at the May 6 council meeting. As a result, council expressed a willingness to give the Chamber more time to come up with an operations and funding plan on how best to utilize the Visitor Center at Sixth and Elk. Council had funded the Chamber through September with the understanding that a new business plan had to be developed by April 1 that showed council the Chamber was moving toward more modern services that provided better value to the town.

New Chamber of Commerce executive director Heather Leonard made a presentation to the council and said since taking over the job earlier this year, a new plan has been the board’s priority. 

Given that most people walk around with a phone that can answer most questions, Leonard asked the question — are visitor centers obsolete? “That’s not an easy question to answer,” she told the council. “Yes, and no. Visitor centers everywhere still distribute things like paper maps and brochures. Having a phone number and location where people can go to get answers is still an important resource for visitors.”

Leonard said such centers are usually the best place to address a broad array of questions. She said one surprising statistic from the Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte visitor centers was that 55% of the people that came into the local centers were under the age of 55. “My perception would have been that an older demographic were the ones coming in, but people tell us they are looking for answers to questions they can’t find online,” she said. “Our local businesses answer lots of questions, but they are all still struggling with staffing. Do they really have the time to answer those questions?” She said one new goal is to provide businesses with a QR code they can hand out to people asking for information. The QR code would be tied to the Chamber.

Leonard also outlined other innovations the Chamber is looking at to improve its interaction with visitors. Putting electronic kiosks at the visitor center locations could help alleviate crunch times with staff during busy periods. The kiosks would provide digital information on local businesses, activities, maps and trails. Installing free Wi-Fi at the Four-Way visitor center is another goal. Providing so-called pop-up visitor centers at events like the Farmer’s Market and Alpenglow is another way to reach out. Leonard said given the expected increase in traffic volume coming over Kebler with the Highway 50 bridge closure, a pop-up center might work at the bottom of Kebler Pass. Holding welcome receptions for incoming tourist groups is also being explored. 

As for funding, Leonard said paying for a visitor center is complicated across the state. She said the local Chamber is committed to exploring funding alternatives other than the town business license fee revenues and membership fees. Initial thoughts include expanding retails sales, looking at being a hub for ticket and tour sales, renting items for events, pursuing more grants and perhaps providing a bike rental service at the Four-Way.

“The Chamber’s role is to listen, communicate and connect while advocating for local businesses and the economy is primarily tourism so the Chamber is a good fit to run the visitor center,” Leonard said. “Could someone else do it? Probably. But we think we’re the best resource to connect with visitors.”

She said currently, one information specialist is operating per shift. She wasn’t sure that would be enough during the busy summer tourism season. 

“This project has helped reestablish relationships in the community with the town and the businesses,” said Leonard. “So our ask to the council is that this be considered phase I. Over the next three months we want to work on our budget and explore possibilities while moving forward.”

Council members all expressed gratitude at the thoughtful effort provided by Leonard. Councilmember Jason MacMillan asked if Leonard saw positive examples of other successful visitor centers in Colorado. She cited Aspen as a good example of using its four centers to assist visitors. Boulder was another good example, and she mentioned its use of an old VW bus as a mobile pop-up visitor center. 

Responding to councilmember Mallika Magner, Leonard indicated the Chamber is not as focused on providing events as it once was. She said the Chamber would likely continue to run the Fourth of July and Beer and Chili Fest but said “the Chamber has cut back on events in the last ten years. Where I would like to go is to help businesses put on events. Beer and Chili and the Fourth of July festivities aren’t going away but there is no need to do more events to draw people here in already busy times.”

Mayor Ian Billick, a sometimes critic of the Chamber and its use of the visitor center building at the Four-Way, said given the thought put it into the plan he was willing to provide the extra time Leonard asked for to flesh out the plans. “The revenue piece will be challenging. I’ll be curious to see how the funding model plays out,” he said while again emphasizing to Leonard how important the building real estate located at the main entrance to town is important to Crested Butte.

“I’d also like to see a more strategic integration plan of how you can deal with the partners like TAPP (Tourism and Prosperity Partnership),” Billick added. “But I’m supportive of the direction you are taking.”

“I see the visitor centers as a resource and I think something little like providing free Wi-Fi is a good thing,” said MacMillan.

“I still like the idea of having a live human providing information, but I also like the idea of having a mobile visitor center at events,” said councilmember Beth Goldstone.

“It is great to feel the momentum of this,” said councilmember Anna Fenerty. “I am excited to see what gets implemented this summer and the impact it has on visitors.”

Billick said that while many specific ideas have been talked about, “personally, I am most interested in having the Chamber show its value to the community. What is it you all think is right and how does it align with your mission and the town’s strategic objectives.”

Leonard will give a similar update to the Mt. Crested Butte town council at the May 21 meeting. The Crested Butte council will consider reinstating the rest of the 2024 Chamber budget at a council meeting in July or August.