Myles Rademan first got permission from the Park City Council to launch a community-oriented leadership program in the early 1990s. The purpose was to foster a group of engaged citizens to talk about issues like affordable housing and traffic.
“They apply for the program, and it shows that there is an interest for them to be involved, and we just give them the right setting, safe setting, a fun setting and a setting in which they can really get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and just learn who they are,” Rademan said.
Three decades on, Leadership Park City has grown into a year-long networking program focused on the dynamics of the greater Park City area, from nonprofits to tourism and private development. Each leadership class also takes a five-day capstone City Tour, to learn from other communities across the West.
Rademan returned from his 30th City Tour in June and on July 8, will step down from the director’s position. That’s when digital marketing executive Scott van Hartesvelt will take over the role.
“I think it’s about bringing the force of this community to bear for 35 self-selected leaders,” van Hartesvelt said. “Really integrating them with all aspects of this community, from the nonprofit, from the government, from private enterprises, and how those nuanced pieces interact with each other in a way that makes Park City what it is.”
He said he has no immediate plans to make any changes to the elements of the leadership program, which officially started in 1995.
“I’m on a listening tour right now,” van Hartesvelt said. “People look at success and they see one big decision. I think success is the result of 1,000 small decisions… I need to understand the nuance of each one of those in order to understand what maybe we could graduate or move into going forward.”
Van Hartesvelt moved to Park City in 2001 and started the digital marketing agency Gcommerce, which was an honorable mention in Outside Magazine Best Places to Work list in 2019.
The new director was a member of Leadership Class 29 and holds various other positions, including service chair for Park City Sunrise Rotary, board member for the nonprofit Hope Alliance, and member of the Park City Chamber marketing committee.
The application window for Class 31, the first van Hartesvelt will lead, is set to open July 5.
Based in City Hall, Leadership Park City is co-sponsored by Park City Municipal, Summit County and the Park City Chamber & Visitors Bureau.
