Photo by Liz Copan / Studio Copan
One Breckenridge announced the winners of its Annual Service Champion awards at its annual Breckenridge Tourism Office meeting, recognizing individuals and businesses for outstanding guest service.
Seasonal champion recognitions are awarded regularly, and both winners of this year’s annual award have received numerous seasonal recognitions.
Breckenridge Tourism Office spokesperson Austyn Dineen said the awards are important because the townwide culture of excellent guest service is what sets Breckenridge apart from other destinations.
“Guests to Breckenridge continually rank the laid-back, welcoming vibe of locals as one of the top attributes of the destination,” Dineen wrote in an email.
The first business recognized was Ski Country Resorts. Ski Country General Manager Tiana Wales said it means a lot to her and her team to be recognized by One Breckenridge.
“Our team worked diligently to make sure that we were still delivering excellent customer service while living in a virtual world,” Wales said. “And so to have the recognition for hospitality in essentially a virtual year just means the world. It means that we have been doing things right.”
Wales said she believes guests who stay with the resort are able to recognize the business’s efforts throughout the past year.
“Our unity as a team helped us excel in delivering excellent service for the guests,” Wales said. “We were all willing to navigate whatever solutions needed to happen with guests, and I think ultimately that led to their comfort, safety and happiness when they were here experiencing Breckenridge with us.”
She added that the pandemic forced the business to make major changes, breaking out of its comfort zone for the first time in years. That made the past year better than years prior in Wales’ eyes.
“We were comfortable with the way that things have been going for the last 35 years in our business. We didn’t really want to change anything,” Wales said. “The force to change that COVID brought actually brought out some much better processes and procedures and some ease in our staff that we didn’t really expect.”
According to Wales, Ski Country continues its commitment to guests by making sure guests know they have the resort as a resource. She said being front and center on Main Street in Breckenridge allows guests to come to them with any questions or issues they might have.
Wales emphasized the importance of the One Breckenridge program, describing it as an “incredible service to our community.”
Photo by Liz Copan / Studio Copan
The second organization recognized was Breckenridge Recreation Center Youth Programs. Throughout the past year, the rec center has opened its doors any day that schools shut down to provide child care for kids doing remote learning.
“I think we helped really fill the void in the community for child care to allow parents to be able to work with ever-changing closures of schools and remote learning on Wednesdays,” Programs Manager Jon Dorr said.
In particular, Dorr said that when the school district shut down from Thanksgiving through Christmas, the center helped navigate classes for students in kindergarten through fifth grade every day. He said throughout the year, the rec center didn’t shut down once.
Dorr credits the staff for making it all possible, particularly Youth Programs Coordinator Terrin Abell, Outdoor Recreation Coordinator Steve Rosenthal, and Sports and Special Events Coordinator Vince Hutton.
The center also worked with parents who weren’t able to afford the rec center’s services and would subsidize as needed. Dorr estimated 75% of the kids the center cared for received some kind of financial help amid the pandemic.
“We’re just glad that we were able to represent some sense of normalcy for the kids,” Dorr said. “I think that’s the most important thing. A lot of these children were staring at screens and not being able to interact with friends, so I think we’re pretty proud that we are able to offer them an outlet to come to the rec center to see their peers.”
