The Poconos Association of Vacation Rental Owners (Poconos VRO) is pleased to announce that Ricky Cortez has joined the organization as Interim Executive Director. Ricky is the Poconos area alliance representative for Rent Responsibly and he will remain in that role. He has attended meetings and participated for the past two years with the Tobyhanna and Coolbaugh Township Short-Term Rental ordinance discussions. As an owner who vacations often with his family, rents to vacationers, and plans to retire here, he is extremely dedicated to sensible regulations while mitigating issues and bridging the gap between residents, vacationers, and owners who rent to them.

Ricky stated, “It is an honor to serve our community as Interim Executive Director for PoconosVRO. Listening and participating in our community has always been an important factor in keeping that symbiotic relationship between those that live here full-time, part-time, and those that come to vacation here. The ethos of our community is the driving force to what draws us all here, it is reflected in our values, and our members are committed to being good neighbors.”

With PoconosVRO, Ricky will be tasked with moving the organization past its start-up phase and into a smoothly functioning not-for-profit trade association. He will oversee member services, member development and help in new member recruitment as well as helping the organization reach its full potential. The mission of PoconosVRO is to represent and advance the interests of vacation rental owners in the Poconos and advocate for practical short-term rental regulation; while providing members with the educational, networking, and resources they need to run responsible and profitable businesses. Ricky will support the volunteers who have established the organization and help guide their efforts to become the voice of the vacation home and short-term rental owners in the Poconos.

Ricky has a very impressive background and we are delighted to bring him into the organization. He has worked with advocacy groups for much of his career and his technical expertise and experience with IT is a real bonus to our group.  Due to our fragile budget, he will begin working approximately 8-10 hours per week.  As more members join the organization and we get more corporate support, we will be in a position to engage Ricky further with more hours.

The Interim Executive Director is a staff member position.  Ricky will report to the Board of Directors (Mark, Marty, Shawn, Ellen, and Joann) and is tasked with a set of near term goals that should go a long way toward establishing our organization as the voice of the STR Industry in the Poconos.

This Monday evening (July 10 at 7 PM), Ricky will be presenting an educational session tied to his role with Rent Responsibly.  We hope you will join us for a discussion on Party Prevention for STR Hosts.  An invitation with the weblink can be found here. 

The next PoconosVRO General Meeting will be Tuesday July 18 at 7:30 PM via Zoom.

If you have not joined Poconos VRO as a Charter Member, we hope you will now.  Please visit https://poconosvro.wildapricot.org/join-us

Thank you,

Mark Shay

President, PoconosVRO