Meet Cathy Taylor

You can count on Cathy Taylor, CPA, if you need help with numbers in our mountain community.

At Scripps, Taylor & Associates, located in Bergen Park, she focuses on helping local businesses and individuals manage their finances and taxes. And local nonprofits have benefited from her accounting expertise as Cathy served as treasurer of Conifer Rotary Club for six years, and after a stint as president, is back at it. She is in her second year as board member and treasurer of Mountain Resource Center.

Cathy credits her mentor, Barbara Scripps, for her accounting career and her community service. After being a stay-at-home mom, in 1998 Cathy went to work for Barbara part-time as the firm’s first employee. As the company continued to grow, Barb encouraged Cathy to go back to school for accounting and in 2008 Cathy earned her certified public accounting license.  Today the firm has 10 employees, and Cathy is a shareholder.

While her two daughters, Haley and Denra, were in Conifer schools, Cathy volunteered with Brownies, the PTA and the Evergreen Lutheran Church. And Barbara’s example inspired Cathy to get even more involved as her daughters grew up. “Barb has been so involved in the community – Mt. Evans Hospice, the Art Center, Evergreen Rotary – and she encouraged me to be involved, “Cathy says.

The firm also sponsors numerous nonprofit organizations and events in the community. Cathy joined Conifer Rotary nine years ago and values the local and international projects that the club sponsors. She noted that the Rotary International Foundation has been named one of the top three foundations in the world. She is proud of local Rotary projects such as the 285 Backpack Project, providing food for kids in need; the college scholarships given to Conifer and Platte Canyon students; and the Interact Clubs at the middle and high schools in Conifer and Bailey.

The club is also involved in international projects, supporting a village in Nepal, and the Platte Canyon High School students helped with a water project in Kenya. The Conifer club has 35 active members, both men and women, who support the local and international fundraising efforts. “It’s a unique group with the common goal of doing something good for the community,” Cathy says.

Since Mountain Resource Center is a recipient of Rotary grants and Rotary meets at the center, Cathy became familiar with its work and was happy to join the board when she finished her term as Rotary president. “There are so many great programs that Mountain Resource Center offers to help our neighbors,” she says, “from child development to workforce services.”

Cathy and her husband, Mark, a marketing manager for a plastics manufacturing firm, moved to Conifer the day Haley was born 23 years ago. The two met in middle school in Casper, Wyoming; Mark was the best friend of Cathy’s brother, and their families were longtime friends. They married while still in college and have been married for 31 years. They lived in Washington for five years, and when Mark got a job offer in Colorado, the couple grabbed the opportunity.

When they first moved to Conifer, however, Cathy was worried. “It’s so isolated up here,” she thought. “I’ll never meet people as a stay-at-home mom.” Then she joined MOPS and the Evergreen Lutheran Church, and her social network grew rapidly. “My dad used to joke that we couldn’t go to the grocery store without meeting five people we knew,” she says. Cathy served on the church council for three years; her daughter was married there; and both her daughters and grandson, Grayson, were baptized at the church.

A number cruncher by day, Cathy has both artistic and daredevil interests that might not be as well known. She takes oil painting classes at the Center for the Arts, Evergreen “as a gift to myself” and enjoys studying with the talented teachers and students, many of whom are artists in their own right. “I’ll never be an artist, but I love the creative process,” she says.

And the daredevil? She and daughter Haley will try anything once, Cathy says. They like to ride dirt bikes and have jumped out of an airplane, ridden in a hot air balloon and gone zip lining near Royal Gorge. A fun day for them is spent riding the roller coasters at Elitch Gardens. “We’re always looking for the next adventure,” Cathy says. Next up is Zorb, rolling down a long hill in a huge transparent ball.

Cathy and Mike like to scuba dive and snorkel. They have traveled to Kenya and Mexico, and visited their Rotary exchange student in Madrid. “In my thirties, I started writing a bucket list of adventures and travel,” Cathy says. Her travel list includes Italy, Ireland and Norway, where she has cousins. The whole family also loves to camp. “My grandson’s first word was ‘out’ because we all love the outdoors,” Cathy says.

Yet love of nature is only one reason she treasures our mountain community. “Until now I never have lived in a community where people are so involved and all know each other,” Cathy says. “It’s a fabulous community, and I’m so lucky to live and work up here. It’s great to be involved in organizations that are giving back to the community.”