After five years of involvement in both the Cortez and Dolores chambers of commerce, Rocky Moss has been hired as manager of both.
Moss, who has served as the Dolores Chamber of Commerce manager for three years, started work in Cortez on July 3. Her time will be divided between the two towns, she said, and she will answer to both boards of directors. In Cortez, she is replacing Jeff Weinmeister, who served as manager of the Cortez Area Chamber of Commerce for a little more than a year.
Moss grew up in Cortez and returned to the county in 2002 after getting her bachelor’s degree in technical communications and serving in the Navy. She sat on the Cortez chamber board for about two years, until she left to become the chamber manager in Dolores.
For several years, it’s been a goal for both chambers to work together more, Moss said. Dolores and Cortez receive much of their business from tourists who visit Mesa Verde or other historical sites, and she believes they could attract more customers and business owners by working together.
“It felt like the right time ... to have one person keeping an eye on both communities,” Moss said.
Both jobs are part-time, and Moss said she expects to spend about 20 hours at each office during the week. On Mondays and Fridays, she’ll spend her morning in Cortez and her afternoon in Dolores. It’ll be the other way around on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Although both chambers have similar goals and some of the same members, there are some key differences. The Dolores chamber is also a visitors center, and it receives funding from lodger taxes on hotels, in addition to membership fees. The Cortez chamber is funded solely by its members, including large companies such as Osprey Packs and Walmart and small businesses like Stonefish Sushi, KSJD Radio and Kokopelli Bike and Board.
The Dolores Visitors Center recently hired three employees, who will help to fill the gap left by Moss when she’s in Cortez.
Moss acknowledged that the two chambers haven’t tried hiring a single manager in many years, and she’s not sure yet whether it will work.
“This is going to be an interesting transition,” she said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
But she hopes the change will result in stronger relationships between the two business communities. Members of both boards seemed to agree. In a Cortez chamber news release that announced Moss’s hire, Lloyd Calvert, president of the Dolores chamber, wrote that she would act as a “dual representative” of both towns.
“We will be stronger working together to promote growth and opportunity than we would be alone,” he said in the release.
Kinsey Ertel, president of the Cortez chamber, wrote that the organizations already have a strong relationship.
“Jeff and Rocky have spent many hours collaborating between the two chambers and with business owners,” she said in the release.
Both chambers will meet in November to review the past year and discuss what they achieved and what they could do better.
Moss said she enjoyed her first week on the job in Cortez, and she’s excited about what comes next. Two events within the next few weeks may test her multitasking abilities. She’ll host her first Business After Hours event in Cortez on July 13 at Run + Hike, and in August she’ll help to organize the annual Escalante Days festival in Dolores.
“I love challenges and new things and bringing people together,” Moss said.