The Partnership Podcast

Erik Williams from VVP welcomes Erin Janklow, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Elevar, an ecosystem building program to prepare and support Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to launch businesses in Eagle Valley. Erin is the Founder of Entrada ESL, a workforce program to teach immigrants English in 100 days. She currently splits her time consulting in European cities and also developing programming for Elevar. Are you considering launching a business here in Eagle Valley? Listen to learn more about the program!

Elevar is an emergent leadership development program and social impact fund that provides community investments through grantmaking and program-related investments to emerging Latinx leaders and people of color. Through existing programs and partnerships with local nonprofit organizations, EVCF’s Elevar fund will create the connection point between existing education and leadership training programs, to the resources needed for emerging leaders to make their dreams a reality, while building economic power, and creating a more empowered and socially just community.

Find a link to the Community Grant application HERE
Learn more about Elevar HERE

Erik gets a chance to sit with Bob Bandoni, Executive Director of Students Shoulder to Shoulder,to talk about the unique lens through which they teach ethical leadership by case studies and living examples.
Shoulder-to-Shoulder is an organization of four partner groups: schools, nonprofits, businesses, and philanthropists. Together, we create a broad range of programming for all members in our mission to inspire and support ethical leadership. We continue to push forward, having seen time and again that collaboration across sectors creates a sustainable strategy to advance our mission and scale its impact.

Learn more about Students Shoulder to Shoulder HERE

Coming October 26-27!
Open to the Public on October 27th
The Ethical Leadership Forum is a collaborative event that brings together emerging and experienced leaders across sectors—education, non-profit, business, government, philanthropy, media, and more—to learn, share and grow their unique and interconnected ways of advancing ethical leadership.

This year, the Forum will interactively explore our theme, “Fostering Generations of Ethical Leaders,” featuring session formats to inspire, inform, and interconnect ideas beyond the conventional conference setting. Join us in the natural beauty of Vail, Colorado, to connect and collaborate towards a more ethical & thriving world.
Find more info and register HERE

One of our favorite quotes at VVP is "Be brave enough to have conversations that matter."  SpeakUp ReachOut lives by this tenet every day...and teaches us how we can be brave as well.  Erik is honored to be joined by Leslie Robertson, the Awareness and Brand Manager for SpeakUp ReachOut and she shares her views on the state of our valley, what resources are available now and education opportunities coming this fall.

From SpeakUp ReachOut:

We reduce instances of suicide in Eagle County and help those affected by it address their pain. Through educational programs, events, peer groups, and partnerships, we bring community members together to learn and share their unique experiences.

If you’re struggling or having thoughts of suicide, call Colorado Crisis Services, (844) 493-8255 or text "TALK" to 38255

Or visit SpeakUp ReachOut HERE

Erik is joined by Vail Valley Partnership President and CEO (and University of Colorado Alum!) Chris Romer to talk about the player-centric coaching style of new head football coach "Neon" Deion Sanders.  Coach Prime's innovative and immersive style is taking the college football world by storm and Chris breaks down for us how that parallels our business here in the  Vail Valley and what we can apply locally.

Learn more about how you can connect to your community HERE

Erik gets a chance to sit at the feet of the master, local legend Steve Leigh, when it comes to on-air presence, local radio strategies and the future of radio (spoiler...it's not going away...hyper-local content works!)  Let Steve's rich baritone voice wash over you while both entertaining and educating on what the local radio landscape looks like...and will the robots take over?  Listen and find out!

Check out all three of the local stations in the family here:
104.7 The Mile
977.7 KZYR
102.1 The Outlaw

Vail Valley Partnership's Christy Beidel and Erik Williams discuss the Modern Youth Apprenticeship Program CareerWise as well as CareerX, the career exploration services from Eagle County School District.  Learn how your business can take advantage of our growing workforce pipelines that are putting our students into positions that are serving both them and the companies they work for.
Christy and Erik also discuss the upcoming workforce luncheon, details below:

Workforce Luncheon, September 12, 11:00am - 1:00pm
Learn how your business can access our youth workforce pipeline! We will discuss job shadowing and internships through Eagle County School District, as well as the CareerWise modern youth apprenticeships that are training our next generation of valley professionals

RSVP for the Workforce Luncheon HERE

This podcast was originally recorded in 2021, but this amazing course is offered annually. For upcoming course dates, visit www.vailvalleyworks.org. 

We at Vail Valley Partnership are really excited about these guests. We've been following the work of Dr. Jill McCrory and Dr. Steve Swafford with Leadership Outfitters. These are two nationally recognized educators and they join us for a conversation about a one-day program they will be leading called Board Service Basics. This is coming directly from our interaction with businesses asking for more community diversity on their boards, as well as the community wanting to serve.

Topic Outline:

• The “Nuts & Bolts” (organizational structure, governance, tax status, financial documents, Robert’s Rules of Order, etc)
• Roles & expectations of a board member
• Questions to ask when you’re approached to sit on a board of directors
• Finding your passion & strengths as they relate to board service
• Understanding communication styles, emotional intelligence and motivating factors
• Individual & organizational values
• Managing healthy conflict
• Working in and with teams
• Elements of powerful, healthy, and successful partnerships
• Implementing steps for effective collaboration
• Local Eagle County case studies

VVP's Erik Williams steps just a bit out of his comfort zone to receive a wellness IV live on the podcast.  If you've always wondered what it feels like?  What are the medical benefits?  Why is taking vitamins in this manner so much more effective?  If I'm not an extreme athlete, does this make sense for me?  Well...Erik asks all of the above and more while having the process done.  Listen to learn about this incredible newer service industry that's growing both here and around the country.
Or just listen in to see if Erik can handle the whole treatment!
Learn more about Vail iV Wellness and Recovery HERE

Erik heads down the road here in Riverwalk to the Diamond Building to visit Orisek Brothers Accounting.  Joe and Chris Orisek join him to talk about the importance of professional bookkeeping services in the valley and what are some of the most often asked questions by small business?
They also discuss how Joe and Chris came to be in this place, what it's like working with family (spoiler: more perks than pitfalls!) and what their vision for the future.
Join the Partnership Podcast for this look at an emerging business in our valley.
Find more information about Orisek Brothers Accounting HERE

Erik thoroughly enjoys this conversation with Vail Jazz Artistic Director Drew Zaremba about his history, vision and all things jazz.  Like an improvised piece of music, they both let this conversation unfold and carry them in it's wake:)  Drew talks about the importance of legacy, the incredible work that is being done in the local schools and of course previews what he's looking forward to most for the Labor Day Party this year!
Learn more about Vail Jazz and get tickets to upcoming performances HERE