Antlers On The Creek
Susan Barrett
   “The natural beauty of Durango is hard to beat,” says Susan Barrett, owner of Antlers On the Creek, a B & B on Lightner Creek, just four and a half miles from downtown Durango. “Our motto is ‘Prepare to be Pampered.’ We want to anticipate our guests’ desires before they’re even aware of them. We serve a three course breakfast each morning and I bake up to eight dozen cookies a day; they fly out of our ‘bottomless’ cookie jar! We serve wine and local beers for Antlers’ Happy Hour, with a different appetizer each day.”
    Susan owned an interior design showroom during her previous life in Denver. She was often on the road for 25 to 30 weeks a year, staying in everything from motels to guest lodges to 5 star resorts.  She experienced first-hand what kinds of accommodations and hospitality work best for a couple, a family, or a single woman. In evaluating what she wanted to do next, once her kids were grown and on their own, Susan considered her experience in interior design, her familiarity with the hospitality industry, and the five months of culinary school she had recently completed in Boulder.
    “I just tied everything together and started looking for something to buy that I could run for myself. My sons live in Scottsdale and Denver. I wanted to be within a day’s drive of both. I first looked at the Lightner Creek Inn, as Antlers On the Creek was then called, in 2009. I finally purchased it in 2013.  Over the next seven months we renovated everything! I went for a modern Colorado farmhouse feel and changed the name to give it some new life. We opened in June of 2014. I joined the Chamber right away. We’ve had guests from across the US and all over Europe, Australia, South America, and South Africa.
    “Last summer the fire started about 300 yards from my inn. The Durango community pulled together and offered any & every kind of imaginable help - it was so comforting. It was amazing. It was inspiring! I’ve never witnessed anything like that before. A gentleman here on a service call, whom I’d only met that morning, even offered assistance!”
    Learn more at www.antlersonthecreek.com. You can reach Susan at 970.259.1565, or email antlers@antlersonthecreek.com.

Advanced Concrete Solutions
Karen Evans and Bob Reynolds
     Bob Reynolds and Karen Evans wanted to live in Durango but weren’t sure how they could make that happen. Still, sixteen years ago they took the plunge. They bought a house in Durango, said goodbye to Dallas, and made the move. Then, like so many others before and after, they had to figure out how to make it work!. During their first year in Durango they met the owner of J and R Concrete and learned that he wanted to sell. They bought the business and changed the name to Advanced Concrete Solutions. They have since built a reputation for excellence, specializing in high quality decorative concrete (think polished or stained interior floors, and decorative stamped driveways and patios), residential foundations/flatwork, and commercial buildings/site work. ACS works with both residential and commercial builders, who count on ACS for consistent quality in a timely manner and for a fair price.
     “We are a full service concrete contractor,” Karen says.  “We do everything from houses to schools and hotels and hospitals. Our customers live in Durango, Dolores, Cortez, Silverton, Bayfield, Pagosa - throughout southwest Colorado.
    “Being a member of the Chamber has been a good experience. I have been to some the Lunch and Learn programs and I participate in the Girls Gone Golfing each year. Bob and I also go to the Business After Hours - it’s a good way to stay connected to the community. We’ve met a lot of wonderful supportive people here in Durango - we think it’s a great community. What’s not to like?”
    Advanced Concrete Solutions offices in Bodo Park. Learn more at www.advancedconcrete.biz. You can reach Karen at 970.259.9252.