Chris Barrett
Since 2017, Chris Barrett has provided exceptional servant leadership for the Pocono Mountains region focusing primarily on the tourism and hospitality industry while working to support various initiatives in the business and nonprofit sectors throughout the counties of Wayne, Pike, Monroe and Carbon.
Barrett leads a strong team at the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau having provided critical support to the community, especially during a pandemic and economic downturn beginning in 2020. Barrett also guided the rollout of the award-winning Pocono Promise across the four-county region and has championed causes such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and supported nonprofits, charities, the local workforce and economic development.
Barrett founded the Pocono Television Network (PTN), which is now available in more than eight million homes and businesses on cable, broadcast and streaming devices. Barrett continues to oversee the expansion of the PTN content network to new platforms as well as serving as one of the PTN hosts.
Since 2018, he has spearheaded the Pick Up the Poconos campaign, promoting anti-litter messaging while enlisting thousands of volunteers and contractors to rid the area’s roadways and public spaces of more than 37,000 bags of trash to date. Barrett serves on the boards of Keep PA Beautiful, NEPA Alliance, is a past chair of the Pocono Chamber of Commerce and is the board chair of the Pocono Mountains United Way. He also teaches undergraduate level courses at the East Stroudsburg University College of Business and Management.
Before joining the PMVB, Barrett was Executive Vice President/COO/CFO for Target Media and Target Digital, a leading east coast media and advertising firm headquartered in Harrisburg, PA. Prior to Target Media and Target Digital, he held multiple senior management roles ranging from sales and marketing to theme park operations with Hershey Entertainment & Resorts for more than twenty years.
Barrett makes it a point to give back to the community and provide value to members of the PMVB as well as to improve the overall quality of life in the Poconos and the vacation experience for visitors.
