Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Zion Mountain Ranch
- Nicholas Meyeres
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
With news of a baby bison being born that morning at Zion Mountain Ranch, chamber members and guests arrived at the ranch’s restaurant, Cordwood, for the semi-annual Kanab Area Chamber luncheon in the north part of Kane County. Chamber board member Nicholas Meyeres welcomed attendees and introduced the host, Kevin McLaws. Kevin is the owner of Zion Mountain Ranch and surrounding properties, including the emerging Zion National Park Discovery Center about a mile west of the ranch.
McLaws spoke about how he bought the ranch property with an SBA loan in 1997 and began remodeling. Development of the area through the years has been focused on giving visitors more to do, including 20 miles of bike trails designed with Tyler McCaul of Red Bull Rampage fame. The goal is economic vitality for the area with increased year-round jobs. The lodge at the Discovery Center, designed to look like a traditional national park lodge, will add 190 rooms to area lodging. A conservation easement guides the balance people and the land.
While McLaws spoke, his restaurant team served the attendees delicious salad and entrees, followed by berry cobbler and ice cream. The food was amazing!
The second part of the program was a tourism update from Kane County Tourism Director, Janette Peatross. Janette began her presentation by introducing her team and reminding everyone that the tourism office is at a temporary location for the duration of the year-long remodel of their visitor center headquarters. She then described their “Basecamp Kanab” campaign, aimed at the visitors who immerse themselves in the community and stay longer than a couple of days.
Basecamp Kanab features Kanab as the “anchor tenant”. It’s a landing zone, a launchpad, it’s “Where you stay to GO!” Peatross also mentioned the “Shoulda Got a Guide” campaign promoting the Kane County tour guide industry, and shared data about Kane County being number four on the list of Utah counties that have the most jobs related to tourism.
Chamber members in attendance at the luncheon agreed that they were thrilled to have been a part of the visit to ZMR and they would certainly be back!
The chamber’s next lunch is on November 13 at Hampton Inn Kanab. The next monthly networking breakfast will be at Parry Lodge on November 18. Hope to see you there!
