Ayala begins new year with new positions serving two chambers

For the first time in nearly a year, the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce has an Executive Director. Jessica Ayala began her new career as Executive Director with the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce last week. The full-time director position is part of a collaborative effort with the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce. The two chambers recently combined forces to hire one director to serve both chambers to be able to offer a full-time position with competitive pay and the option for benefits.

Ayala was born in Holyoke and graduated from Holyoke High School in 2001. Her first experience in Haxtun came the same year when she began working at the Haxtun Hospital.

"I very quickly fell in love with this small town with a big heart," she said.

Ayala married her high school sweetheart, Antonio, and the couple have three sons, Ashton, 19, Aden, 12, and Lio, 7. "My oldest son started school in Haxtun in the first grade and graduated in 2022. My younger two sons have been in Haxtun Schools since preschool," Ayala said. "We officially moved to Haxtun five years ago after commuting for many years." The Ayala's live on a small farm outside of Haxtun with their dog, Max, and some 4-H goats, sheep and chickens. "Most of our free time is spent following our boys around to all their activities."

For the past 12 years, Ayala has worked as a polysomnography technician, which she says is a fancy word for sleep study tech.

"I have been traveling between Haxtun, Holyoke, Yuma and Julesburg providing the sleep study service," she said. "I've built great relationships with each of those hospitals and their staff. I provided them with quality service, exactly how each one wanted theirs done."

That experience, Ayala said, will benefit her in her new role as the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce's Executive Director. "My former experience has given me the opportunity to meet so many people. During my time with them, we were able to add on two more facilities."

Ayala took over as Executive Director for both the Haxtun and Holyoke chambers on Friday, Jan. 6. Since the Haxtun Chamber has been without an Executive Director for some time, her first priority is to get new systems up and running. A portion of that will include implementing a newly purchased software program that will house the Chamber's membership database along with a host of other useful features. Ayala said the new software will also help with the Chamber's website and communication with members.

The new software being implemented in Haxtun is currently being utilized by the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce so a portion of her initial time as Executive Director with the two local organizations will be spent training with Holyoke's former Executive Director Holly Ferguson.

Both the Haxtun and Holyoke chambers will to contribute evenly to Ayala's salary, a position that will be paid through Phillips County, similar to the current Phillips County Economic Development Director position, so that health benefits can also be a part of her full-time package. She will split their time evenly between the two chamber organizations while each chamber pays equal amounts towards the salary. Ayala will have an office located inside the Haxtun Town Hall. Additional information on office hours will be available soon as will a date for an annual meeting to officially introduce Ayala.

In addition, each chamber requested funds from their respective municipality to contribute to the full-time salary. The Town of Haxtun and the City of Holyoke both agreed to contribute towards the position.

Similar cooperative efforts between the two communities is already in place within the school districts in Haxtun and Holyoke. This year, the two districts are sharing an IT Director, 50-50, who splits his time between the two schools and the two are also sharing a band/music teacher to fill a gap needed in both districts.

"I am so excited about my new career with the Chamber and to give back to our incredible little town that, from the beginning, has been so welcoming and supportive to my family."