Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Longtime Routt County businesswoman Noreen Moore has been hired by a task force interested in economic development to serve as the community's new business resource director.

Moore, who will work from the offices of the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association, has been hired to assist existing local businesses in their efforts to grow their markets.

"This is an opportunity to participate in something that means so much to me," Moore said Tuesday. "The bottom line is increasing employment opportunities, which builds not just the financial capital, but the intellectual capital of the community."

The task force that hired Moore included Sandy Evans-Hall, executive director of the chamber, County Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak, City Councilwoman Arianthe Stettner, Scott Ford of the Small Business Development Center at CMC, and Bob Larsen, vice chairman of the Economic Development Council.

Evans-Hall said Moore will be responsible for all areas of the chamber's economic development efforts, with a particular focus on cultivating existing businesses. It's a form of economic development referred to as "economic gardening."

"The whole idea is, you're tilling the soil and helping existing businesses to grow," Evans-Hall said. Rather than attempting to attract businesses to relocate to Routt County, the idea is to focus on retention and expansion of businesses that are already here.

"These are people who are self-selected for the community. They're committed. That's fertile ground," Moore said.

Evans-Hall said the city of Steamboat Springs is committing $25,000 to Moore's compensation package, the county is supplying $15,000 and the chamber is supplying $10,000 plus support staff and an office.

Moore said she anticipates having no problem reaching out to entrepreneurs. The challenge may be in convincing the broader community of the value of the program.

Her business experience includes running a restaurant in Oak Creek, as well as building up and selling a successful property management company in Steamboat Springs. She has worked with the boards of many nonprofits in Moffat County, West Routt, Steamboat and South Routt.

Moore has a bachelor's degree from St. John's University and has taken courses toward an MBA from the University of Phoenix. She was the owner of Dinty Moore's Pizza restaurant in Oak Creek from 1973 to 1985. In 1986, she established Steamboat Management Group, which managed 140 condominium units, an athletic club and conference center. She sold the business in 2000. During that time, she served as president of the Mountain Business Association.

Moore's work with nonprofits is too extensive to detail. She served on the founding boards for the Steamboat Learning Center; Strings in the Mountains; Environment 2000; Cabin Fever Unlimited, a cottage industry employing 30 women; the South Routt Community Foundation; Little Toots Day Care Center; The Haven senior assisted living center in Hayden; and the Community Crisis Intervention Team for Colorado's 14th Judicial District.