The Vail Valley Partnership- the Chamber & Tourism Bureau and Economic Council of Eagle County (ECEC) today announced that the ECEC efforts will be consolidated into the Vail Valley Partnership operations.
The Economic Council, incorporated in 2006 as a 501c3 non-profit corporation to promote the long term economic health of Eagle County, has focused on providing relevant economic data and analysis, offering economically focused programming in an effort to promote countywide retention of workforce and recruitment of sustainable new business. Moving forward, the Partnership and Economic Council will work together in collaboration to promote the long-term economic health of Eagle County.
Don Cohen, the founder and executive director of the council said, “With the loss of over 7,000 jobs in the past three years, combining the resources of the ECEC and VVP is a major step to bringing more horsepower to new and visionary job creation opportunities. Eagle County’s economic development plan focuses on three pillars of our economy: recreation and tourism, health and wellness, and learning and education. For the past year much of the council’s work has focused on health and wellness. By combining our efforts we’re excited at the possibility of attracting more wellness themed meetings and ultimately full-time businesses to the valley.”
As part of the transition, Cohen will be stepping out of his role and will be working with the new Colorado Center for Health and Wellness (www.coloradocenter.com) at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Denver. “I’m excited at the possible linkages with this major new initiative by the CU Med school and the Vail Valley,” said Cohen.
The union was a natural transition as Vail Valley Partnership (VVP) was founded in 1964 as the Vail Resort Association and has grown to fulfill the needs of the entire Vail Valley community as both the regional chamber of commerce, as well as the regional destination marketing organization. The Partnership currently plays a fundamental role in regional business efforts with the establishment of a variety of signature programs including the Vail Valley Merchant Alliance, a coalition focused on individual merchant groups with an emphasis in regional outreach, as well as the Vail Sports & Event Coalition, a special, dedicated effort led by the Vail Valley Partnership and in conjunction with each municipality and recreation districts within Eagle County. Other such community programs include the Non-Profit Network, Vail Valley Volunteer Connection, Platinum Service Program and Lodging Quality Assurance Program.
Looking ahead, all ECEC research and VVP tourism-based research will be housed online at the new “Economic Research Center” (housed online at www.VailValleyPartnership.com), providing both historical and new research to developers, potential businesses and others. The Partnership believes that this new alliance with the ECEC will continue to provide infrastructure and continued engagement and collaboration with elected officials and municipalities throughout the region.
“The Partnership looks forward to expanding our role as the regional chamber of commerce and destination marketing organization to include a renewed focus on economic research, providing additional value to our stakeholders and business members. The Economic Council of Eagle County has played an important role bringing together stakeholders throughout the valley and we plan to continue their progress on regional collaboration,” said Chris Romer, executive director of Vail Valley Partnership.
For more information on the consolidation of the ECEC and VVP, please contact Chris Romer, at 970-477-4016 or visit online http://www.vailvalleypartnership.com/members.asp?id=9.