Vermont Business Magazine Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz and his wife, Elana Amsterdam, made personal contributions totaling $1.6 million to eight local non-profit organizations in the communities in which the company operates. Among the recipients is the Stowe Land Trust, which will receive $100,000. The contributions buildon the couple'sprevious commitments to those who are most in need in the company’s resort communities. Vail and Stowe Mountain Resort announced in February that Vail would buy the ski operations at Stowe for $50 million.
Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz and wife Elana Amsterdam. Vail photo.
In January 2016, Kata and Amsterdam gave $1.5 million to the EpicPromise Foundation, providing emergency relief to employees in need and last October, they donated $2 million to 12 local non-profits, funding programs for local youth and families, including basic needs, childcare and mental health. These contributions help augment the more than $9 million per year donated by Vail to non-profits across its mountain resorts.
The Intention.
"The welfare of children and families in our local communities who are most vulnerable requires our attention and we feel fortunate to be able to support some outstanding non-profit organizations who work tirelessly to serve them," said Katz. "We hope our contributions serve as a catalyst for others to join our efforts to help ensure the vibrancy of these incredible cities and towns."
The Reach.
Each of the contributions will be directed toward programs that support children and families or improving local recreation opportunities in the following local communities: Eagle, Summit, Denver and Boulder counties in Colorado; Summit County in Utah; South Lake Tahoe in Nevada and North Lake Tahoe in California; the Resort Municipality of Whistler in British Columbia, Canada; and Lamoille County in Vermont.
The Impact.
Here’s what the donation recipients shared about receiving this support:
"We know from a large body of research the importance of the early years in setting a strong foundation for children’s future learning and success. The research also points to the importance of high-quality childcare professionals. Colorado Mountain College is eager to grow and develop the passions, confidence and professional skills for those who care for our children. We are thrilled to be a partner in growing early childhood professional development throughout Eagle County. Through the generosity of this gift from Rob and Elana, early childhood teachers win, families win and most of all, our children win,"– Kathryn Regjo, Vice President of Colorado Mountain College Edwards Campus
"The Summit Foundation is honored to receive this generous donation and it will make a significant difference for the youth and working families of Summit County. The strong fabric of any community is the people who work there and who are able to live comfortably where they work. As a resort community, it is critical that we do everything we can to assist families with our high cost of living. This gift will help our community continue to work together to provide high-quality affordable afterschool care, as well as assist high school students with a financially viable path for a college and post-secondary education."– Mark Spiers, President of The Summit Foundation
"Our community is poised to take action for better mental wellness among young people. This gift is exactly what we needed to move quickly and create systemic, countywide sustained change that will benefit our youth for years to come."– Katie Wright, Executive Director of the Park City Community Foundation
"The proposed new building for the Xit’olacw Community School Language Immersion program will serve a great need in our community as the present building is very old with serious issues and urgently needs to be replaced. The new building will allow us to expand the program and will benefit approximately 30 students each year. The Immersion Ucwalmícwts program serves the community as one important aspect in revitalizing the language, which is crucial to retaining the culture and Lil’wat way of life,"– Verna Stage, Xit’olacw Community School Administrator
"Wellness services provide real-time support for youth facing the challenges of adolescence, which can be compounded living in a rural area. We are fortunate to have a school district and community-based organizations who are committed to providing holistic health services geared toward our youth."– Alison Schwedner, Director of the Community Collaborative of Tahoe Truckee
"The support from Rob and Elana means that this program will continue to feed disadvantaged children in the South Lake Tahoe community and we hope to grow the program to meet the needs of more children in the future."– Bill Martinez of the South Lake Tahoe Family Resource Center
"This contribution will help us advance two important initiatives in youth engagement and protecting critical lands. With this gift, we can act quickly to permanently protect land that supports our farm, forest and recreation heritage while also continuing to involve Stowe kids in the learning about nature and inspiring them to develop a conservation ethic."– Caitrin Maloney, Executive Director of the Stowe Land Trust
"The Rocky Mountain Greenway Project will help to connect Coloradoans to our state’s great outdoor playground, providing recreational opportunities for generations to come. We’re thankful for this gift which will help us complete a preeminent trail, from Rocky Flats to Rocky Mountain National Park, in our statewide network of trails."– Colorado Lt. Governor Donna Lynne
The Recipients.
Following are the eight non-profit organizations receiving funds from this gift and the impact that these funds will have on children and families in the local communities they serve.
$250,000 | Our Community Foundation in Eagle County, Colorado
In Eagle County today, two main barriers to access to quality childcare – cost and capacity – are leaving approximately 1,300 children ages five and under without licensed childcare. According to the Foundation, average childcare costs range from $9,600 for a four-year-old to more than $12,000 for an infant each year. This grant will provide childcare scholarships for Head Start families and long-term expansion of the childcare capacity in Eagle County. It also will help license 60 additional teachers in Eagle County. Combined with the scholarships, the grant will provide access to quality childcare for 420 more children in the county.
$250,000 | The Summit Foundation in Summit County, Colorado
This grant will benefit two programs through The Summit Foundation: Catch Afterschool and Mountain Futures Center. Catch Afterschool was established after a community call for afterschool care and today serves 250 children across the county. A collaborative effort of FIRC, the Keystone Science School, the Summit County School District and The Summit Foundation, the program is currently facing a $125,000 shortfall. This grant will provide instructor and program fees to ensure that 250 children will continue to have critical afterschool care for the next two years. The grant also will benefit the new Mountain Futures Center to ensure that 140 pre-collegiate students from Summit high schools and middle schools will have access to post-secondary education and the financial support to be successful in college.
$250,000 | Rocky Mountain Greenway Project in the Front Range, Colorado
The Rocky Mountain Greenway Project is part of a statewide effort to promote outdoor recreation through a better system of networked trails, and specifically focuses on building and connecting trails from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge all the way to Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colo. This grant will be used as a challenge grant to raise the $1 million needed to complete the second segment of the project from Rocky Flats to Boulder.
$250,000 | Park City Community Foundation in Summit County, Utah
Mental health and substance abuse among youth has become a serious issue in many resort communities, including Summit County, Utah. With support from the Park City Town Council, the Summit County Government and in partnership with the Summit County School District and local mental health providers, the Park City Community Foundation is launching the "Communities that Care" program as part of a larger initiative focusing on mental health. This grant will support the development and implementation of intervention programs designed to prevent and treat mental health issues and is estimated to help more than 4,200 teens, grades six through 12, across three school districts in the county.
$250,000 | American Friends in the Resort Municipality of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
This grant will support children of the Lil’wat and Squamish Nations by rebuilding a community school and launching a youth sports and mentoring program. Children of the Lil’wat Nation, ages four to eight years old, can learn the Lil’wat traditional language in the Ucwalmícwts Immersion Program at the Xit’olacw Community School. The school is housed in a very old building that is in a significant state of disrepair. The grant will support replacing the building with a log cabin structure that can be used as a traditional Ishkin (a dug out longhouse) with a classroom and kitchen.
There are currently no programs available to help provide leadership skills, a connection to the outdoors and sports and fitness for youth of the Squamish Nation. This grant also will help develop and launch a Squamish Nation sports and athlete development program, focusing on leadership skills through sports and providing insight into the traditions and culture of the Squamish Nation. Every youth in the Squamish Nation will be involved in the program.
$125,000 | Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation in North Lake Tahoe, California
This grant supports the development of the Wellness Program, a school-based program designed to improve the health and wellness of high school students, including targeting substance abuse and mental health issues. More than 400 students across the school district will be served through this program.
$125,000 | South Lake Tahoe Family Resource Center in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada
There is currently no program available to ensure that kids and families, who rely on free and reduced lunch programs during the school year, have access to regular meals in the summer months. Through this grant, the South Lake Tahoe Family Resource Center, in partnership with the Lake Tahoe Unified School District and the El Dorado Food Bank, will be able to provide a summer food program for approximately 150 children in need over the next three years.
$100,000 | Stowe Land Trust in Lamoille County, Vermont
Established in 1987, the Stowe Land Trust has protected nearly 3,500 acres of land in order to maintain public access for recreation, protect working farms and forests, and protect critical wildlife habitat for the benefit of the community and environment. Today, more than 80 percent of significant farm land and privately owned forest land are at risk of development. This grant will benefit two areas: First, it will permanently protect more than 350 acres of land for the benefit of the community, and second, it will enable approximately 800 youth to engage in volunteer conservation service and nature-based learning over the next two years.
On February 17, 2017, Vail announced it would acquire Stowe Mountain Resort from Mt Mansfield Company, Inc (MMC), a wholly owned subsidiary of American International Group, Inc (AIG). Stowe Mountain Resort will be Vail Resorts' first mountain resort on the East Coast.
Vail is acquiring all of the assets related to the mountain operations of the resort, including base area skier services (food and beverage, retail and rental, lift ticket offices and ski and snowboard school facilities) at Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak. The deal does not include the Stowe Mountain Lodge, Stowe Mountain Club (the new facilities on the Spruce Peak side), Stowe Country Club and certain real estate owned and held for potential future development, which will be retained by MMC.
Vail expects to close on the acquisition soon, pending Vermont administrative review and following the completion of the 2016/17 season.
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Source: Vail Resorts. 4.17.2017