The Navigator Awards are presented annually by Steamboat Pilot & Today and the Steamboat Springs Chamber to businesses and community leaders for their outstanding contributions to the Steamboat community.

The 2022 Navigator Young Professional of the Year, Geoff Petis, has moved around quite a bit in his life, but he has proudly called Steamboat Springs his home for the past eight years. He confidently says he has never lived in a place with as beautiful a community as this one.

After living in Denver, Petis and his wife, Lisel, were burned out on the big city. Lisel got a new job in Steamboat, and the couple moved to Ski Town, USA, in 2014. Petis, 41, decided to open up his own law business in town and immediately fell in love with the area.

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Being new to Steamboat, Petis had some extra time on his hands and remembered something his parents taught him at a young age. Petis’ parents were business leaders while he was growing up in Hamilton, New York, and instilled in him the lesson that you get out of your community what you put into it.

“If you want the community to be amazing, I feel like I have the obligation to do what I can to make it amazing,” said Petis. “I’m a people person, so giving back to the community and individuals and causes is something that brings me joy.”

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Petis joined all sorts of different nonprofit boards around town to help boost the community any way he could. He was part of the Routt County Planning Commission, Ski Town Lions Club, Northwest Colorado Bar Association, Young Professionals Network, Integrated Community, the Steamboat Springs Chamber and more. 

He also served as the chamber board president during the pandemic. Running the entire operation remotely made it hard to communicate and function smoothly.

As the nonprofit representative of the business community, the chamber had every single business to consider, and a lot of the load fell on Petis’ shoulders. The chamber advocates for and supports every industry from restaurants to retail and nonprofits.

Petis explained that running and preserving industry working groups was both one of the biggest challenges, as well as one of the biggest successes, that he has had while working with the chamber. Petis will be looking to retain his real estate seat on the chamber board when his term ends later this year.

Petis believes the way you feel after helping others and boosting the community is unlike any other feeling. He urges anyone who has the ability to go out around town and join a nonprofit board.

“There’s so many people that care about so many different things that there’s an opportunity for every single person to volunteer for something that is important to them,” Petis said. “Finding a way to give back to the community that gives back to everybody else is not only incredibly easy to do, it is tremendously rewarding.”

Being in law wore Petis down over the years as he was fighting for people’s rights in the courtroom. In 2018, he found out his wife was pregnant and decided to take a new direction in life that would make him an even happier person. 

He partnered with his close friend, Matt Eidt, and took to the real estate business as a broker. 

Petis has found the real estate industry to be extremely rewarding and satisfying. When a client calls, the majority of times it is about an exciting opportunity. The client is likely either selling a house to move somewhere new or they are becoming a homeowner in the Steamboat community. 

Petis takes a lot of pride in his career, as well as his community work, and he stresses the sheer amount of opportunities for Yampa Valley residents to get involved with making the city a better place.

“What does the Steamboat community mean? Community,” Petis said. “That’s not to be glib. I don’t know that I’ve lived in a place that has such a big heart as Steamboat, and I’ve lived all over the world.”

To reach Tom Skulski, call 970-871-4240, email tskulski@SteamboatPilot.com.