The Park County Travel Council is aiming to have an offer out to its top candidate by mid September, and a new executive director in place most likely well before the end of the year. 

At Thursday’s monthly board meeting, Chair John Parsons said the executive director search committee has been working with recruiting firm Search Wide Global and they have already received a lot of interest in the position. 

“We’re pretty excited, they're on top of things, moving along at a really good pace,” he said. “It’s moving along really well.”

To that end, stakeholder meetings will be held next week to gather information and dive deeper into all aspects of the position, Parsons told the Tribune. 

Once finalists are determined, they will be invited out to tour the county, including attractions, communities and locations of events and projects the council sponsors. 

“We want them to get a good feel of the community,” Parsons said. 

While in person interviews of the finalists will be conducted privately, he said the council will invite the public to meet the finalists and give feedback. 

The council picked Search Wide Global Consultants at its May meeting, after receiving word in April from executive director Ryan Hauck that he was taking the same job in Fayetteville, Arkansas after nearly four years at the helm in Cody. 

Hauck’s final day at PCTC is July 9, the day after the travel council plans to hold a 10 a.m. hearing to approve the budget.