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Andrew is a member of Garfield & Hecht’s Vail Valley office, advising and representing clients in Eagle County and across Colorado with real estate and community association matters, business formation, contract drafting, municipal resolutions and ordinances, land use planning, and other transactional and litigation areas. 

Raised in Aspen, Andrew served for twenty-one years in the U.S. Army, first as a tank commander, later deploying to Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division, and concluding as a Deputy Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the President's principal military advisor. From his upbringing and military service, Andrew became deeply committed to fulfilling unmet nutrition, health, and social services needs in his community. After the Army, he continued in public service as a senior counsel with AmeriCorps, furthering the agency’s grant based and direct community service programs nationwide.

Andrew lives in Eagle with his spouse and their two children.

Veteran TV anchor Jim Benemann retired at the end of 2022 after more than four decades on the air, and 36 years in the Denver TV market. 

Benemann, who has co-anchored KCNC-TV’s CBS4 nightly news with Karen Leigh since 2008, has also been the face of that station’s primetime news broadcasts since 2002, witnessing the Mile High City’s highs and lows during times of unprecedented growth and social and political turmoil, and sitting in the front seat of the city’s charitable scene.

After he signs off at the end of 2022, Benemann plans to travel with his wife, Karen, hitting their “bucket list” locations and spending more time with their sprawling family, which includes eight children and five grandchildren in Colorado and elsewhere.

Benemann’s reporting career spans the globe as he has filed stories on five continents and worked as a reporter and news anchor from Washington, D.C., to Portland, Ore. His retirement also underlines the changes that the TV news business has seen over the last few decades, from the “printing money” days of stations flush with cash from advertising in the 1970s and ’80s, to the digital evolution, competition and badly needed diversity discussions in contemporary news media.

Those jokes aside, Benemann is widely admired in Denver because he finds a balance between earnest and entertaining, with a stand-up comic’s sense of timing, fierce intelligence and unerring news judgement, friends and colleagues said.

Benemann hails from Chicago — his mother, 98, still lives in the Glenvale suburb — and moved to Colorado to attend Colorado State University in Fort Collins in 1978. Fresh out of broadcasting school, he worked in the Quad Cities market (Davenport, Iowa).

His first on-air job in Denver arrived in 1981, as the inaugural Boulder County reporter for Channel 9 KUSA. Station owner Gannett then offered to send him to Washington, D.C., to help open a new national news bureau there, at age 25. After that, he returned to Denver and reported on weekend sports and morning news at 9News, as the KUSA station is now called. In 1989, he returned to CBS4 to become a co-anchor.

While most of his career has been Colorado-focused, he also served as one of the main news anchors at Portland’s KGW-TV from 1994 to 1997. But a call from KUSA brought him back to Colorado, as that station was looking to replace longtime Denver anchor Ed Sardella with another comforting, familiar face.

An Avalanche fan, Benemann also loves the Cherry Cricket restaurant and music venues like Red Rocks Amphitheatre and the Bluebird Theater. Despite his upcoming travels, he won’t be straying from Colorado for too long, he said.

He sees brighter days ahead for the news industry, and Denver, despite the “dramatic changes,” and is looking forward to the simple pleasures of not delivering the news at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. every weeknight.

Nick Brinkman is the current President of FirstBank’s Mountains market, primarily overseeing lending
and operations in both Summit and Eagle Counties. He joined the company in 2001 and has worked in
various roles over the last 21.5 years.

Nick has been active in both the Eagle and Summit County communities throughout his career with
FirstBank. He previously served the following organizations:
- Eagle County Homebuyer’s Assistance Committee (Chairperson)
- Eagle County School District Finance Committee (Board Member)
- Samaritan Counseling Center (Board Member)
- Little Red Schoolhouse (President and Treasurer)

In addition to the prior service listed above, he currently serves:
- The Summit Foundation (Secretary, Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Nominating
Committee and Grants/Scholarship Committee)
- Summit County School District Finance Committee (Board Member).
- Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley (Finance Committee)
- Junior Achievement (Classroom Instructor at Stone Creek Charter School)
- Eagle Valley Community Foundation (Board Member)

Nick is a 2001 graduate of Colorado State University with a B.S. degree in Business and Finance. He also
earned a degree from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He
along with his wife Kristy, their two children (Emmy and Evan) and their two dogs (Ramsey and Roxy)
currently reside in Edwards.

Jason was involved in the initial planning for the community group that ultimately became OCF. He was a leader of the group who expanded the Gives Day program into the Vail Valley.

Jason is a professional development officer with Bravo! Vail, and formerly raised funds for the Eagle Valley Land Trust. Jason has worked with the Vail Valley Foundation, Can Do MS, and was Executive Director of the Merwin Conservancy in Hawaii. He and his wife Farrah have been involved in numerous community efforts, always engaged with empathy and commitment.

Dan has raised four children in the Eagle River Valley, where he has called home since 1989. Dan held the position as President with the Colorado Bankers Association before serving as President for GreenStar Financial Services. Dan now serves on multiple nonprofit boards in the Valley including Bravo! Vail, Berry Creek Metropolitan District and Eagle Valley Land Trust.

Cynthia is a native Chicagoan. She lived there until she moved to the valley in 2020. Cynthia is enthusiastic about finding ways to get involved and support her new community. She is excited to help further the mission of EVCF! Cynthia is a passionate supporter of access to education and mental health services. She serves as a Board member of the University of IL Foundation, Josselyn Community Mental Health Center and Providence Englewood Charter School Foundation. Cynthia, and her husband Dan, live in Edwards and have three children.

Entrepreneurial leader of non-profits, high-growth start-ups and corporate businesses. Expertise in strategic planning, growing revenue, building organizations and launching initiatives, programs & products. Passion for impacting community development, including the empowerment of girls and women, to make Eagle County a prosperous and inclusive place to live.
 
In roles as CMO / SVP Marketing and Brand Development, responsibility for crafting brand / mission-centric initiatives requiring strategic vision and emotional buy-in, delivering revenue for annual operations as well as long-term strategic growth &
endowment. Additionally, as Founder & CEO of a for-good / for-profit social enterprise, personal direction of all business operations, identifying, incubating, launching and scaling programs to forge deep emotional connections, rally stakeholders around a compelling cause, and inspire dedication of time, talent & treasure. Extensive work developing programs for volunteer, donor, brand ambassador, Board member and stakeholder recruitment and stewardship to successfully execute key initiatives, programs and products.

Samantha Hodgkins is Founder & Chief FireStarter of SparkFire Active, a for-profit for-good consumer brand business. With a passion for elevating & empowering girls, a love of adventure & exploration, and a deep expertise in consumer branding & engagement, Samantha’s core expertise is in building brands, driving business growth and developing organizational capabilities, particularly in the areas of consumer insights, new product innovation and commercialization excellence.

 Samantha leads all entrepreneurial aspects of SparkFire Active as start-up, including brand positioning, product development, consumer marketing, digital engagement, partnership development and everything in between. She is a seasoned senior marketing executive with deep professional background in the Consumer Products industry, leading both Fortune 500 brands and high-growth entrepreneurial B2C start-ups. 

She is an avid explorer, adventurer and global traveler, as well as a lifelong active woman who has played sports all her life, including as a NCAA Div 1 college athlete.

Samantha has a joint BS/BA degree in Industrial Engineering and Art History from Stanford University, and her MBA at University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Passionate about community and the impact of non-profit initiatives, Ryan Kipp became involved with Eagle Valley Community Foundation (EVCF) in 2018. Ryan moved to the Valley full time in 2017 and is invested in finding ways to support this community that he loves. In his professional life, Ryan is a business executive with experience ranging insurance, financial services, technology and business development. He currently works at Marsh & McLennan as a leader in their insurance and benefits practices, serving mid-market companies. Ryan and his wife Marianne live in Edwards with their son Wes and daughter Parker.

The eldest Knapp sibling, Brian brings a wealth of knowledge in business and risk management to his role as Chief Financial Officer and Human Resources Manager at Knapp Ranch. As a research manager at Simmons Market Research Bureau and later at TIAA-CREFF, Brian became facile with product-specific marketing surveys designed to increase revenue and customer satisfaction in the publishing and advertising industries, and the insurance sector. From there, he moved into risk management operations at Citigroup, General Electric, and finally, Synchrony Financial, where he was responsible for overseeing credit and capital management risk aggregation data platform initiatives related to date aggregation, quality, accuracy, reporting, and analytics. Brian moved to Colorado from North Carolina with his family and enjoys reading and photography.

Both Merv and Laine Lapin have long been involved in building community in the Eagle Valley.

Laine has focused on multiple aspects of wellness, from hospital ethics committee, to hospice, volunteer Angels and a Board member of the Heuga Center. In 2004, she co-founded the Pet Therapy program still in existence with Vail Health, and is chair of the EV PROUD (Eagle Valley Partnership Response to Opioid Use Disorder) Task Force. President of Vail Securities Investment since 1969, Merv spent nine years on Vail Town Council, and his commitment to local philanthropy includes decades of engagement with the Eagle Valley Community Fund, Roundup River Ranch, and his passion – Vail International Hockey Club; currently Laine and Merv are hosting a group of young hockey players from China.

The Lapin Family Foundation offers real world financial literacy throughout Eagle County Schools through EverFi, an education activation technology. For eight years, their family foundation has also funded the Mandarin Program at Battle Mountain High School.

After a highly rewarding 28- year career leading global GE Capital businesses, Jeff Malehorn directed “Chapter 2” energies focused on driving broader economic and societal impact in the public-private sector, leveraging global leadership skills working with domestic and international CEOs / C-Suites, Government and Civic leaders and numerous partners leading World Business Chicago (WBC) as President & CEO and then Executive Advisor through the Mayor’s second term (April 2019). On to an equally exciting Chapter 3, Jeff is Founding Principal of L3.0 Ventures doing board (public, private and non profit) advisory and investment work, with a concentration in healthcare and the environment. Jeff has served on the Greater Chicago Food Depository Board and Finance committee for years and chaired the American Heart Association Chicago Board; currently, Jeff sits on the Walking Mountains Science Center Board. Jeff and wife Laura are Vail residents, with two adult daughters, Kayla and Ali.

Eric Reinhard served in a variety of leadership and managerial roles over his 40+ year career.
Most recently he served as President and Chief Commercial Officer at Avangard Innovative
leading external customer and business affairs. Prior to joining Avangard, Eric served as Region
President, Sysco South Texas, where he was responsible for all functions at the companies
Houston and San Antonio sites. Prior to joining Sysco, Mr. Reinhard was a Partner at Rumble,
LLC, a collaborative effort formed by beverage entrepreneurs to identify early-stage brands and
innovation that impacted the beverage industry. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Reinhard served
as President of the Pepsi Cola Bottler’s Association, a beverage association management and
consulting firm. In 2005, he was Senior Vice President & General Manager for the Pepsi Bottling
Group’s Great West Business Unit. While in this role, Mr. Reinhard was also a member of the
Pepsi Bottling Group’s Chairman’s Council, The Food Service Strategic Planning Committee,
and The Dr. Pepper Bottler Marketing Committee. Mr. Reinhard joined Pepsi Cola in 1984 after
four years with The Proctor & Gamble Distributing Company. Since 1984 he held several field
and headquarters positions including Vice President/General Manager Pepsi-Lipton Tea
Partnership (JV), General Manager Mid-Atlantic Business Unit, Area Vice President Retail
Channels, Vice President On-Premise Operations and Area Vice President of Franchise
Operations. Mr. Reinhard holds a BA from Michigan State University and has completed the
Executive Business Program at the University of Michigan. Mr. Reinhard has served on multiple
for profit/not for profit boards and looks forward to new challenges as a recently retired business
executive.

Chris Romer has been with the Vail Valley Partnership for the past ten years where he has grown the organization to become a full-functioning chamber of commerce. Chris’ passion lies in tourism and hospitality and channels that passion into creating experiences for visitors that are thoughtful and cost-effective.

Mike Rushmore is the Co-Founder of Eagle Valley Community Foundation and now serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Prior to his work in philanthropy Mike led a successful business intelligence software for asset management firms. The snow and mountain culture drew Mike and his wife Sue to the Eagle River Valley in 2010, where they have made a home and community for themselves.

Tim and Wendy Shannon came to the Eagle county valley area in 2018. Throughout the various communities that have been their home, it has been important to them that they serve within their community. ECVF’s focus on healthy food security, healthcare and mentorship certainly touches their heart and desire to serve.

Tim’s professional background was in various sales, marketing and technology leadership positions at Ownes Corning. Afterwards he started Larimer Shannon Group, which is a manufacturer representative company with a focus on the sales and marketing of commercial exterior construction materials to specialty contractors, architects, distributors, consultants and building owners (private and public sector).

As for the non-profit area, he has a successful history with the Boys and Girls Club, Global Orphan Project and Care Portal... with the latter two having a global footprint with a focus on orphan prevention and foster care. The roles and actions with these organizations have ranged from board positions to “boots on the ground” positions. An important part of his business charter is to be actively involved in the community and serving those in need… especially children, young adults and families.

Bill and Beth’s primary residence is in Paoli PA. Colorado home is at Redsky Ranch in Wolcott. All three of their children are in their 20’s. Bill’s career was in the financial services industry with the majority of it spent with the American Funds as Senior VP of sales and distribution. In 2011 Bill joined Brinker Capital where he ran sales and distribution before retiring in 2016. Bill currently has an LLC, Larkspur Partners that is focused on real-estate development in the Philadelphia region. Bill is on the Boards of Cornerstone Christian Academy, a school based in south west Philadelphia serving “at risk” kids from K-8, the Younglife Liberty Region and Waynesborough Country Club. Bill graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1981. Beth went to Dennison University and received her degree in Psychology. They met at Van Kampen Merritt, an investment management firm in Philadelphia and will celebrate their 30^th anniversary this July. Beth is also active in Younglife and has been a mentor for their program working with teen mothers in urban areas. They spend about 5-6 months a year in the Vail Valley.

After visiting for many years, Mark and his wife Deb moved permanently to
Colorado in 2010. Living in Breckenridge for a decade they became very involved in
the Summit County non-profit community. Mark served as board president for The
Summit Foundation, board vice-president for The Summit Community Care Clinic,
and co-founder and board chair of The Peak Health Alliance. In 2021 Mark and Deb
relocated Eagle county moving to the Frost Creek community outside of Eagle. Once
again Mark wanted to get involved in working with an impactful local non-profit.
“One of the most rewarding aspects in becoming involved with local non-profits is
being able to see the difference it makes for those who live and work in your
community”. “The Eagle Valley Community Foundation has supported hundreds of
families and will continue to expand its reach in the years ahead”.
Mark spent 35 years in the pharma industry and is a retired pharmaceutical
executive who enjoys mountain life through golf, skiing, and other outdoor
activities. He has a daughter who works in administration at Graland Country Day
School in Denver.

Mark Wurzer is the Publisher of The Vail Daily (>10,000 per issue, plus digital) since September 2016. Vail Daily is a long-time supporter of numerous local nonprofits. Mark was 5 years at Register Media in Des Moines as VP of Advertising, and prior to that 6 years as Chief Marketing Officer with Clarity Media Group in Denver.