DENVER – Colorado state officials on Monday announced the director of a new office aimed at assisting the outdoor recreation industry.

Luis Guillermo Benitez will lead the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office beginning July 1, Gov. John Hickenlooper said in an announcement. The office will be housed in the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

“I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to connect who I am personally with what I get to do professionally,” Benitez said in a statement. “Colorado is in a strong position to lead the outdoor recreation industry on many levels.”

The office will provide a central point of contact, advocacy, resources and support at the state level for stakeholders who rely on the continued health of outdoor recreation. The industry contributes $4.2 billion annually in wages and salaries in Colorado.

“Luis Benitez is the epitome of an outdoor recreation industry professional: a world-class mountaineer and guide, educator, leader and community advocate,” Hickenlooper said. “We couldn’t have found a better-suited person to represent our state’s outdoor recreation industry.

Part of Benitez’s job will be to promote the state’s outdoor recreation industry throughout the world, supporting the growth of Colorado businesses that provide services and products in outdoor recreation.

Benitez has summited the famed “Seven Summits” 32 times, including being a six-time summiteer of Mount Everest, while serving as the director of operations for Adventure Consultants, a New Zealand-based international guiding company. He once summited Everest with the blind athlete Erik Weihenmayer on a historic and famed climb in 2001.

Benitez is a councilman in Eagle, where he has championed the extension of mountain bike and commuter trail systems and worked on the vision for a whitewater park.