Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Thirty years after a group of eighth grade students traveled to Snowshoe Mountain Resort for the first ever business luncheon, hosted by the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the CVB once again welcomed well-dressed eighth graders Thursday from Green Bank and Marlinton to enjoy a day of learning about careers in tourism.
Students were divided into three groups and attended breakout sessions where they learned about the U.S. Forest Service from Amy Lovell, an education specialist with the forest service; social media and marketing from CVB marketing specialist Jake Hyer and social media specialist Makinsey Poeppel; and the wonders of trails from Charles Evans, C.J. Peterson and Zen Clement, trail specialist with the CVB.
Snowshoe president and COO Patti Duncan also spoke to the students, welcoming them to the mountain and sharing how she became the first female COO of the resort.
Duncan worked her way through the ranks, beginning with her own snowboard shop to becoming the director of retail in The Village. She worked under former COO Frank DeBerry, who recommended she take his position when he left.
She has been the president and COO for six years, and she told the students it takes hard work and finding a way to do what you love as a career.
“It’s all about working hard and that’s what you guys have got to do,” she said. “Just make sure that you’re working hard, doing the right things, hanging out with the right people and making sure that your path is clear in what you want to do. You may change it a thousand times, but you’re the only one that’s going to be able to do what you can do and nobody is going to do it for you.”
After the sessions, the students enjoyed a meal at the Al Dente Ristorante, where they were joined by business partners of the CVB.
The guest speaker for the meal was Jim Ed Roush, general manager and wedding coordinator at Corduroy Inn and Lodge, the only privately owned hotel on Snowshoe Mountain.
Roush grew up in Pocahontas County and attended Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, graduating from Pocahontas County High School.
After receiving a degree in business, Roush returned to Pocahontas County in 2007 and got a job at Snowshoe. His employment at Snowshoe started in high school and so this was a return for him. He explained that, through the years, he worked in nearly every restaurant on the mountain, was in IT and then catering manager.
The day he became catering manager, he was informed he had 40 weddings to organize for that summer. Roush had just gotten married himself and vowed he would never do another wedding, but he managed to make it through the summer unscathed and found he was, in fact, really good at organizing weddings.
“I have learned a lot, especially organizational skills,” he said. “The weddings come to the county, and we get to showcase where we live. I pretty much had to self teach myself weddings.”
After a few years as catering manager, Roush joined the Corduroy Inn and Lodge family. He went to be a housekeeper, but found himself taking the office manager’s place. Soon after, he became wedding coordinator and, later, general manager.
As general manager, Roush is in charge of the inn, lodge, three restaurants – Appalachian Kitchen, Toques and The Pizza Slice – as well as wedding coordinator.
When a wedding is held at Corduroy, Roush basically becomes part of the family. He is there from the very beginning when the guests arrive to the end, when they leave two days later. Roush and his team are well organized and can pitch in wherever there is a need.
He explained that there are times when things go wrong at weddings and the team is ready to fix them. He has officiated when needed; his wife bakes and bartends when needed; and the bartender is great with hair and makeup.
In sharing his story, Roush told the students that it is possible to make a career in Pocahontas County and tourism has many avenues they can take in finding their niche.
“You have to love what you do and do what you love,” he said. “If you’re a people person, tourism is the thing for you. I’m not saying it’s always easy, and I’m not saying that you don’t have to learn to control your face with some of the questions you get, but it comes with lots of experience.”
Roush said he takes pride in telling his guests about the many things they can do in Pocahontas County because it is home and he knows that people will return once they experience just a piece of the county the first time.
“I feel like the name is starting to get out there,” he said. “I feel like we’re starting to be in the spotlight, and we need more people to come and experience where we live. If you want to live in Pocahontas County and you enjoy what you do, this is the place to work. You can meet people from all walks of life.
“It’s very exciting.”
