Abby Krimotat
Chamber director Heads for the hills, to Mountain Winery
By Kara Chalmers
Abby Krimotat, the executive director of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, has taken a job in customer relations at the Mountain Winery, the concert and corporate meeting venue in Saratoga's hillside.
She begins at the winery on March 12, and will continue to work at the Chamber part time through April. The Chamber is currently advertising for Krimotat's successor. Krimotat said she hopes to remain involved with the Chamber by being a member of its board of directors.
According to Krimotat, the Mountain Winery made her a great offer and she is excited to work with the president of the Mountain Winery, Nancy Bussani, whom Krimotat got to know through the Chamber. Bussani is a member of the Chamber's board.
Krimotat said she is glad her new position will allow her to use her marketing talents and said she is excited to work at the winery, especially now that the winery's concert promoter is Bill Graham Presents.
When Krimotat mentioned to Bussani that she was looking for another job, Bussani said she offered her the position with the winery. In the position, which is new, Krimotat will handle corporate account management and customer relations, Bussani said.
"She's extremely warm and very service-oriented in her role at the Chamber," Bussani said. According to Bussani, Krimotat had told her she was ready to try something new, and that this was a way Krimotat could stay in the Saratoga community.
Krimotat was promoted to executive director at the Chamber in May 1999, when long-time director Sheila Arthur retired after 10 years on the job. At the time, Krimotat was the Chamber's executive assistant
According to Michele Overton, who is the director of programs and special events at the Chamber, Krimotat breathed new life into the Saratoga Chamber, with her warmth, humor and fresh perspective. She said Krimotat has been a great mentor to her and was integral in attracting the Silicon Valley's young dot-commers to the Chamber.
"Abby made us cool," Overton said. "Abby made us approachable to the young people."
In May, Krimotat clashed with the city council when the Chamber asked for an increase in the fee the city pays the Chamber to act as the city's tourist and visitor information bureau. For years, the Chamber had received $3,344 and Krimotat asked that the annual fee be raised to $10,000, since much of her and her staff's time was being spent on visitor services. The city and the Chamber could not work out a contract that was agreeable to both sides, so the fee was never increased.
The city allows the Chamber to use its building on Saratoga-Los Gatos Road as its office for a token fee of $1 per year. The city also pays for minimal expenses of the Celebrate Saratoga!, a street dance that the Chamber stages every September.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
