“I’ve found that being out here in the winter, I’ve built so many more relationships with this tiny community,” Rachael Corsi of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce told a visitor on an unseasonably warm day earlier this month.
The easternmost hamlet’s downtown was quiet, and at two of its popular destinations for locals and tourists alike — the channel connecting Lake Montauk with Block Island Sound and the beach at Ditch Plain — off-season work was proceeding to increase the navigation channel’s depth to 17 feet and reconstruct the dune, respectively.
Summer is never too far off, but for Ms. Corsi, who succeeded Jessica Dye as executive director on Jan. 1, this is a time to take in Montauk’s natural beauty and bask in the serenity of winter while preparing for the coming tourist season. “Being here in the winter has given me some peace of mind and some time to focus on myself,” she said. “Picking up hobbies, hiking more, enjoying the sunsets, which I believe are even more beautiful in the winter than summertime. It’s little things like that, that add up, that make you appreciate the wintertime.”
It is a new role for the young director, but prior experience provides a foundation from which to launch this new phase of her career. The native of Mount Kisco, N.Y., graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2020. Initially, she worked as a behavioral therapist in New York City, but the Covid-19 pandemic meant remote work, “which was crazy, working one-on-one with a child with autism.”
On the LinkedIn professional networking site, a friend saw a post for employment, and free housing, with Gurney’s Montauk Resort and Seawater Spa, which had recently been acquired and rebranded the Montauk Yacht Club. They spoke with Michael Nenner, the president and chief operating officer, who asked, “How soon can you come out?” Ms. Corsi recalled. “It was the end of August, so it was the end of the season. We packed our bags and left that week.”
She worked as a host, server, and bartender at the yacht club, “and I ended up just loving this community so much. During the six months of winter, I would travel and work somewhere, like most of us do.” She became a year-round resident two years ago, working at restaurants including Alimentari Beach, the Bird, and the Point. “The hospitality industry really got me,” she said. “The service industry out here was different than any other place I’ve worked, and I learned to love it so much that I wanted to extend my career in hospitality.”
The job description at the chamber of commerce “matched what I wanted to do: helping others, networking, building relationships, event planning. It was everything that I yearned for growing up.”
Her experience in hospitality “has been such a plus, because I’ve built so many relationships with people, but also . . . in my generation, a lot of people don’t know what the chamber does.” That, she said, is advocacy, for the community and its visitors as well as for its members, which number around 300. “It’s marketing Montauk as a destination and putting it on the map. . . . We take that membership and we advocate for you, we market you, and we give you all the resources that you need to have success in your business.”
The chamber, she said, “can be part of the heart of bringing everyone together. Jumping into this role has been a lot of fun because, just like the hospitality industry, you get thrown into it.”
In her brief time with the chamber, “we’ve already done a lot of great things,” such as a December art walk that saw a large crowd tour the hamlet’s downtown to view the work of local artists in the windows of businesses, most of which are closed until spring. “Hopefully, we can create more events like that for the community and for bringing everyone together.”
Another early initiative was marshaling resources for assistance to Jamaica following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Melissa in October. “We have such a huge Jamaican community out here and they do so much,” Ms. Corsi said, “and I mean, it’s family. Everyone becomes family out here. We shipped about 15 barrels to Jamaica, just from the community. Showing up and donating and spreading the word and giving food and resources — it’s little things like that where you start to realize this is a lot bigger than some people think, which is great.”
Part of the mission, she said, is spreading the word that “Montauk is beautiful in the winter, too. It’s a place you should enjoy year round.”
“I am thrilled that Rachael Corsi is the new executive director of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce,” Ms. Dye told The Star. “Her leadership and vision are exactly what our community needs to continue growing and thriving. I have no doubt that Rachael will bring fresh energy and innovative ideas to support local businesses and strengthen our vibrant Montauk community. This is an exciting new chapter for the chamber, and I can’t wait to see all the great things she will accomplish in this role.”
“Everybody’s been so helpful,” Ms. Corsi said. “And throughout this transition, it’s been really special because there’s so many people out here that are supporting me and all the businesses. It’s really nice to know that people out here support the chamber, and I’m excited to give that back.”