After a year-long search that included one failed attempt to hire a new CEO, Visit Estes Park announced Thursday the organization has chosen two new finalists to interview for the position.
Tyler Daugherty, former CEO of Visit Casper, and Sarah Leonard, current CEO of Visit Longmont, where she is Chief Destination Officer, will interview for the position on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
Daugherty was selected to serve as the CEO of Explore Siouxland in Sioux City, Iowa, just a month ago. Before joining Explore Siouxland, he served as CEO of Visit Casper in Wyoming for 10 years.
Before joining the Wyoming agency in 2022, Daugherty was vice president of community relations with Travel Dubuque and had coached track and basketball for Indiana University East. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Dubuque and has more than 13 total years of tourism and leadership experience in the tourism promotion industry.
Leonard led the Alaska Travel Industry Association team for 10 years and has 20 years of experience in the tourism industry. She joined Visit Longmont two years ago. While in Alaska, her work was recognized by the Alaska Journal of Commerce, and she was responsible for securing a $10.5 million Economic Development Administration grant for statewide tourism marketing.
Leonard received a master’s degree in recreation management and tourism from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism with an emphasis in public relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In-person interviews will be held on Wednesday, Oct.1, beginning at 10 a.m. and streamed live via Zoom.
Meet-and-greet opportunities will be held on Wednesday afternoon at the Estes Park Conference Center in the Holiday Inn Estes Park, 201 S. St. Vrain Ave, with Daugherty from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Leonard from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
Mike Zumbaugh, VEP’s finance director, has served as interim CEO since August 2024, when he was named to fill the position previously held by Kara Franker.
SearchWide Global, an executive talent firm, was hired to lead the search for a new CEO after Franker resigned. In January, two finalists for the job gave presentations to a local search committee appointed by Visit Estes Park, but the search was halted, and one candidate withdrew. A human resources firm was hired to investigate issues that surfaced during the interviews that were never made public.
SearchWide Global continued to advertise and collect applications for the Estes Park position. The VEP board vetted the applications during a special Board meeting on Sept. 4, which included an executive session.
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