Vail being a resort town with seasonal employees, it stands to reason that the individuals who come to town on a temporary basis don’t have as strong of a connection to the community as long-time locals. In response, the Vail Chamber and Business Association has created the Vail Community Hospitality Program.
The program is an opportunity for seasonal employees to learn about the community of Vail in order to enrich their time here.
“The goal is to help local businesses in acclimate existing, returning and new employees to Vail,” said Alison Wadley, Executive Director of the Vail Chamber. “There’s such a quick onboarding process due to our seasonality that some places run out of time and effort to train their employees on normal facts about Vail.”
Walking tours around Vail will help employees learn the history and culture of Vail, as well as to learn where things are located. Each tour will conclude in a local business for a reception with coffee or mimosas.
The idea for the program came about after the Chamber conducted series of focus groups within different industries around Vail. Companies in food, retail, professional services, lodging and more were asked about their seasonal employee’s connection to the community.
“We were starting to see our business owners and employees really feeling the disconnect between working here and actually being a part of the community,” said Wadley. “We want to make them feel proud to be able to live and work here and be a part of Vail.”
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Ultimately, the Chamber saw an opportunity to help employees and help the business they work for.
“We’ll take the pressure of training off of our businesses,” Wadley said. “Through a series of walking tours … or we can conduct a 30 to 60 minute training in place of business.”
Well-known locals Chris Anthony and Dr. John Kedrowski will also join the program, speaking on how Vail specifically contributed to their successes “to inspire new crop of locals to stay here despite all of the challenges that it presents,” according to Wadley.
The program also offers discounts to participating employees at several local businesses, a complete list of which, is available at http://www.vailchamber.org.
Additionally, the Chamber will host a reboot event at Bol in Vail on Thursday, Jan. 17, from 2 to 5 p.m., where participants can sign up.
For more information, contact info@vailchamber.org.
If you go …
What: Vail Chamber Reboot event with hospitality program sign-up.
When: Thursday, Jan. 17, 2 to 5 p.m.
Where: Bol in Vail.