Grand County Colorado Tourism Board Agenda Thursday, January 16, 2025

3:00 pm (C Lazy U)

Board Member In Attendance: Kristen Spronz, Joanna Whitemarsh, Dave Huber, Jeremy Belnap, Gretta Fosha, Rebecca Bierden, Dakota Cordle, Jennifer Brown, Cheryl Spezia, Beau Larson

Absent: Elizabeth Brumm (Board Member)

Also In Attendance: Catherine Ross (Winter Park Fraser Valley Chamber of Commerce), Sarah Cichon (Destination Granby) , Lisa Bornfield (Hot Sulphur Springs Chamber of Commerce), Kelly Kirkpatrick (Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce), Brittany VanderLinden (Kremmling Chamber of Commerce), Mary Price (Shining Stars Foundation),Steve Fitzgerald (Fraser Valley Arts), Sarah Wieck (Town of Fraser), Sally LeClair and Polly Gallagher(Grand County Library Foundation), Lesley Rowbal - Dan Janes - Katelyn Green- Bria Hammock - Kristen Brockel (Madden Media), Dave Santucci (Mission2Market), Megan Dryden (Social Media Contractor), Julie Klein (Confluence Sustainability), DiAnn Butler (Grand County Economic Development)

Call To Order – Kristen Spronz

Kristen called the meeting to order at 3:12 p.m.

Kristen reviewed the grant process and the election process of the President, Vice President and Treasurer Secretary with the board members.

Election of Officers

Cheryl motioned to have Joanna Whitemarsh as President, Kristen Spronz as Vice President and Jennifer Brown as Treasurer/Secretary, Dave seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

Audience Participation

Everyone who was in the meeting introduced themselves.

Approval of Minutes– (2 mins)

Meeting minutes for December 2024 are approved as distributed.

Approval of Invoices by Finance Committee- (3 mins)

Gaylene reported that the invoices for December were $134,243.29.

Board of Committee Reports- (15 mins)

Marketing Committee – Elizabeth Brumm was absent.

Gaylene stated that we did not have a marketing meeting this month.

Finance Committee –

Budget numbers (get from Gaylene for 2024 and 2025)

Gaylene reported that tax collections were 3% down in 2024 and that January taxes were $779,211.00 and down about 5%

Gaylene asked for members of the board to participate on the finance committee Rebecca and Dakota will be on the finance committee

Executive Director Report– Gaylene Ore - (5 mins)

Gaylene and Paula have had numerous meetings with Madden team Kristen and Gaylene attended the Madden’s “Muse Conference.”

Gaylene and Dave Santucci met with CTO to go over the Destination Blueprint project Gaylene met with the BOCC

Gaylene also worked with Dave Santucci on the GCCTB 2025 Board Strategies Gaylene updated the finances and grant packet highlighting the grant amounts awarded in 2024.

Marketing Update- Lesley Rowbal (Madden Media)

She and her team worked on transitioning the website from the old vendor to Madden Media

She and her team are working on a partner portal and resources for partners. The team is reviewing creative and campaigns

The SEO and content teams are developing content for the year There are SEO performance audits on the website

She and her team are working on priorities for the website Email strategies are being fine-tuned

Old Business- (5 mins)

The board discussed the potential of having two board retreats instead of one annual retreat. It was decided during the May meeting we’ll start at noon and go over the board’s strategies and tactics for the year. The board will continue to have an all-day board retreat in July.

Kristen motioned to approve the 2025 GCCTB strategies, and Dakota seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

Dave provided an overview of the GCCTB 2025 Strategies, which include: Organizational strength, marketing and branding, support of local tourism businesses, destination management, and stewardship.

New Business- (10 mins)

Madden is developing an events and business module

County-wide Grants

Grand County Library Foundation presented their grant request and the history of the author event they were requesting grant money to promote.

Dakota motioned to adjourn the meeting, and Gretta seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

PBS12 asked to present at our April Meeting.

Adjourn

Gretta motioned to adjourn the meeting, and Kristen seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

Meeting Adjourned at 3:46 p.m.

Next Meeting: February 20, 2025- Snow Mountain Ranch

1st Quarter Grants

MainStem

Hot Sulphur Springs (Block Grant) Kremmling Chamber (Block Grant)

Three Lakes

Destination Granby (Block Grant) Grand Lake (Block Grant)

Fraser Valley

Town of Fraser (Fire and Ice) Shining Stars

Fraser Valley Arts

Winter Park & Fraser Chamber (Block Grant)