(Riverton, WY) – Tiffany Cortez is starting to settle into her new role as the WyRiverton Chamber and Visitor’s Center executive director after a whirlwind of a few weeks on the job.
The Chamber has been without an executive director since April, after Sam Tower left the role.
Cortez brings with her significant experience in entrepreneurship, as she started her own corporation at the age of 25 back in her home state of Washington.
“Around 2013-14, I started my own corporation and under that, I opened my first restaurant. It started out as a craft beer bar. No food, 12 taps. Beer and cider. And within like six months or so, we had the chance to expand into the restaurant next door and take that over, and so I chose to do that. So we became a full-service, family-friendly restaurant with American comfort food, scratch house. I ran that for several years and decided to do another one. So we opened the second restaurant, my husband and I, and that one was more like high-end seafood, wild game, stuff like that.”
The second restaurant had only been open for a few months and then COVID hit.
“We were left wondering what was going to happen. We had the opportunity to sell the second restaurant and took that and then ended up coming out here.”
After moving to Riverton, Cortez started Twisted Magpie Studio. However, she missed connecting with all the community members as she did with her taproom.
“It was kind of a hub for the community to come gather. And they would come rain or storm. They would be there if the power went out. They bet on us to be open and come see us, so we were really a community space, and I really missed that when I moved here.”
The executive director role seemed like a natural fit for what she was missing. Not only does she bring her skills running a corporation, but also, the pandemic forced her to learn how to write for grants.
She is excited to be in this role and to be working with community members again.
“I really just wanted to connect with the community and help see it grow and thrive.”
Her first order of business is to get things back on track with all of the Chamber members.
“I’m just trying to get back to all the things that we’re supposed to be doing for everyone and get those on track, and then after that, when I’ve kind of settled in, I have some cool ideas that I want to do. Some fun events and stuff that I’d like to bring to the area. Right now, I’m just trying to get the train back on track.”
You can reach Cortez by calling (307) 856-4801 or visit https://wyriverton.com/ for more info.