With little fanfare, but significant discussion and a little dissent, the Visit Estes Park (VEP) board of directors named current CFO Mike Zumbaugh to fill the position of interim CEO once Kara Franker’s term ends on Sept. 5 on a 6-1 vote. The decision came during a special virtual meeting of the board Thursday afternoon.
The lone opposition vote came from Kirby Hazelton, who also is a trustee on the Estes Park Town Board, because in addition to Zumbaugh, one other current employee had indicated interest in the interim position. Both Zumbaugh and the other employee told the board they had met privately and agreed to support whoever might receive the job.
“How could we, as a board, name an interim if we haven’t done any sort of vetting of the two who, until 29 minutes ago, I didn’t know we had two interested candidates?” Hazelton asked. She requested that the board determine what types of questions should be asked of each candidate, such as management experience and goals for an interim period. She asked the board to delay a decision until next Thursday when Visit Estes Park will hold a regular monthly meeting.
“I think appointing today feels a little disingenuous,” she said.
While negotiations on contract language will need to be finalized, Zumbaugh said, “thank you for your vote of confidence in me. I will do my best to keep the train going and not veer off the course that Kara has already going forward.” Because of the working relationships he has with everyone on staff, Zumbaugh said “I see things continuing on without disruption.”
During yesterday’s meeting, the VEP board also voted to name board members Sean Jurgens and Deb Gibson to a search committee responsible for providing the rest of the board with information about a potential professional search company at next Thursday’s board meeting which will be held at 2 p.m.
Zumbaugh, a resident of Michigan, has been a distance worker for VEP since he began working for Visit Estes Park in 2021. Board members cited their confidence in his knowledge of the organization and its plans for the future.
“I don’t want us to get off the track,” said Gibson who has served the board as president, treasurer and now as vice president. She’s also been a search committee member several times in the past. “I would like to know we’re going in the same direction and that we’re not going to deviate from that until, and unless, we have a new individual who comes in as the permanent CEO for the position.”
She also said, “I’m concerned that whoever this (interim) is will be somewhat insulated by the board from any external political faction with regard to the transition. I would rather that interim is focused only on keeping the Visit Estes Park existing plan intact, taking care of the staff, taking care of business, and letting the board take care of any other incoming, community type of things that come in.
Rich Chiappe spoke in favor of immediately moving forward with an appointment. “We just need to keep on keeping on making it a smooth transition. There’s no major decision to be made. We do know Mike very well. He obviously knows the operating plan and what’s in the budget, what’s got to be spent, what’s been bought.”
In answering the one question posed to elicit the candidate’s desires for moving forward, Zumbaugh said, “I would need the support and assistance of the existing management team to continue going forward with everything.” Further, he was pleased to hear that the board would be able to shield the interim CEO from political pressures. “I’m more of the operational person. I would be able to do a fine job of that with any ‘politicalness’ being kept separate.
Zumbaugh has worked in tourism finance and operations for more than 30 years and is a leader within the industry, working with Destinations International (DI) in various capacities to provide DI members with professional development opportunities. He has been a board member of DI’s Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) program.
Prior to joining Visit Estes Park, Zumbaugh was the COO at the Chattanooga Tourism Co. where he oversaw operations of the 25-person, $10M organization. He currently works for that organization on a part-time basis as finance director. Throughout his career, he has held executive and senior leadership positions at Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau, Greater Lansing Destination Development Foundation and Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau.