About Us
Our Mission is to Promote Lake County’s tourism assets to increase overnight stays and drive economic development for our members, stakeholders, and communities.
The Lake County Visitors Bureau is managed by a nine member Board of Directors. If you are interested in being a part of the board, please apply below!
Meet the Staff
Neil Stein- Executive Director
Neil Stein became Executive Director of the Lake County Visitors Bureau in September 2019 following 20 seasons working in Minor League Baseball. Neil worked with the Toledo Mud Hens for eight years and spent 12 years with the Lake County Captains, his final four as General Manager. After growing up in New Philadelphia, Ohio, Neil attended Baldwin Wallace College where he played baseball and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a double-major in Business Administration and Sport Management. Neil is a proud Lake County resident living in Mentor with his wife Julie and two children. Neil is a leading member of the Grand River Valley wine region branding initiative, Past Chair of the Mentor Area Chamber of Commerce, Trustee for the Lake Health Foundation and is proud of his leadership bringing the Miracle League and Lake Health Miracle Park, a fully-accessible baseball field and playground for children with physical or mental disabilities, to Eastlake in Lake County. Neil is a regular guest lecturer at Case Western Reserve University, Baldwin Wallace University and Notre Dame College and has been the keynote speaker for the Lake/Geauga Fast Track 50 Awards. Neil has coached youth softball, baseball, basketball, track & field, and flag football and is now a certified OHSAA football official.
Since starting at Remarkable Lake County, OH, Neil and the Visitors Bureau staff have worked tirelessly to jumpstart the travel and tourism industry for Lake County. In 2020 the team developed a grant program to assist dozens of brides-to-be and event planners affected by the abrupt closing of an event venue in Lake County by offering financial assistance to help offset lost deposits and find another venue to host their event in Lake County. Neil led efforts in 2021 to introduce two new grant programs from the Lake County Visitors Bureau: the Capital Improvement Grant Program and the Community Events Grant Program. The Capital Improvement Grant program encourages travel and tourism businesses to reinvest in their properties and expand their offerings for visitors. Community Events Grants are designed to support local events and festivals that each play an instrumental role in making our Lake County communities tremendous places to live, work and play. For 2022, in an effort to assist events that were negatively impacted by the effects of the Covid pandemic, Neil introduced an idea to the Lake County Commissioners to use a portion of the County’s American Rescue Plan funding to supplement the grant programs already in place at the Visitors Bureau. This additional funding received from the County Commissioners has provided an additional $115,000 in financial support to over 40 different events to ensure these events were able to take place not only in 2022 but also for many years to come.
Trista Wright- Art Director & Graphic Designer
Trista Wright has been a part of the Remarkable Lake County, OH team since February 2019. She is a graduate of Lakeland Community College with a focus in Graphic Design. In 2020 Trista was charged with bringing all of the Remarkable Lake County, OH design work in-house. Since then, she has won multiple awards for the bureau, including a RUBY Award from the Ohio Travel Association for Best Digital Marketing Campaign and two STAR Awards from the Ohio Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus for Best Social Media Campaign and Best Print Advertisement. Remarkable Lake County, OH, was also named runner-up in the Star Awards for their 2021 Travel and Tourism Guide. Trista prides herself on continuing to develop new and creative ways to promote all the great assets Lake County has to offer. She is a long-time resident of Lake County and can't imagine a better place to have raised her two children with her husband, John. She enjoys hiking with their two dogs and shooting nature photography in the Metroparks in her limited spare time.
Katie Montz- Social Media Community Manager
Katie joined the Remarkable Lake County, OH team in June 2022. A native of Erie, PA - Katie has been working in Branding, Social Media, and Marketing since 2009, supporting the tourism, entertainment, and retail industries as well as non-profit, K12, and Higher Education organizations. Katie earned a degree in Communications from Penn State University, has a passion for marketing, is eager to support the local businesses and community, and is proud to be a new Lake County, OH, resident. When she's not in the office, she and her two young daughters are either exploring the outdoors, visiting with family, volunteering for school events, or trying to find the perfect local pizza, ice cream, or sandwich shop. Recommendations are always welcome!