Vail Valley Partnership Honors Local Leaders at 23rd Annual Success Awards

The air inside the EagleVail Pavilion held that specific, heavy warmth of a room packed with three hundred people trying to be seen and heard at once. It smelled of expensive cologne, nervous sweat, and the faint, metallic tang of stage lights warming up. Outside, the Colorado sky was likely turning that bruised purple of early evening, but in here, the focus was entirely on the stage, where the Vail Valley Partnership had gathered its community for the 23rd Annual Success Awards.

It’s one of our favorite events of the year, Vail Valley Partnership President and CEO Chris Romer told the crowd, his voice carrying that particular blend of professional polish and genuine affection that comes from running an organization for decades. It’s gratifying to recognize these individuals and organizations for the hard work they’re doing to help our community thrive.

But before the formalities kicked in, there was the human element, the messy, beautiful reality of what it means to build a life in the valley. Samantha Miller, owner of All the Good Stuff and a nominee for Small Business of the Year, navigated the crowd with her infant daughter slung across her chest, a perfect, chaotic plus-one for the evening. She wasn’t the only one bringing a piece of their personal lives into the professional arena. Tim McMahon, known locally as Chicken Man for his ubiquitous feathered suit, stood out in the crowd, a finalist for the Individual Community Impact Award. He was taloned, literally and figuratively, a reminder that in Vail, you can be a serious business leader and still wear a chicken costume to a gala if it serves the community.

The emcees, Romer and his partner in crime Erik Williams, moved through the awards with a rhythm that felt less like a corporate ceremony and more like a stand-up routine for people who care deeply about local economics. They traded barbs, admitted to using AI to summarize finalist achievements, and even asked ChatGPT to generate pickup lines based on local organizations’ missions. It was levity, yes, but it was also a reflection of how the local chamber operates — modern, adaptable, and unafraid to laugh at itself while doing serious work.

Then came the awards themselves, the moments that cut through the laughter. Michael Brown of Alpine Bank accepted the Chairwoman’s Award from Tiffany Ingoldsby, the new chair of the VVP Board of Governors. Ingoldsby spoke of Brown’s integrity and humility, but Brown himself was more pragmatic. He’s been in banking for over 35 years, he noted, and while he loves working within the community alongside other dedicated individuals, “Nobody loves banking.” He pointed out that they weren’t handing out awards for the best income statement or the prettiest storefront today. They were recognizing the hard, sometimes thankless work of keeping the local economy breathing.

That work was embodied by Katie Bristow, co-owner of Black Tie Ski & Bike Rentals, who took home the Member of the Year Award. Maren Cerimele, VVP’s VP of Strategic Initiatives, described Bristow as someone who builds an inclusive, welcoming culture and founded a local chapter of Hot Mess Express. It’s a specific kind of success — one that isn’t just about revenue, but about the texture of the community itself.

As the night wound down, the applause thinned out, leaving behind the echo of laughter and the quiet satisfaction of people who know that their businesses are more than just line items on a spreadsheet. They are the threads that hold the valley together. You could feel it in the way people hugged, in the way they checked their phones not for emails, but for photos of their loved ones, still in the room, still part of the story.