To the Massanutten Community:
I hope this finds you all well!
The weather of late has been… well, interesting, has it not? That said, I’m pleased to report that the resort had an excellent winter holiday period. Perhaps the best news was that the investments made in boosting snowmaking capacity in the tube park enabled us to offer approximately 40 percent more capacity this winter than we did last year, enabling more area residents and guests to participate in this popular activity simultaneously (and with shorter lines)!
OUR NEW GENERAL MANAGER:
As you know, I was recently promoted and have taken on additional responsibilities with Massanutten’s employee-owned parent, The Resorts Companies, Inc. We conducted a search for a new Vice President and General Manager for Massanutten Resort. We had a lot of interest, and a fine slate of candidates from which to choose – and choose we did: Massanutten’s new GM is Michael Hammes, and he’ll start on February 5th.
Michael, shown above, has a terrific portfolio in the hospitality industry. He comes to us directly from The Summit at Snoqualmie/Alpental, the closest ski areas to Seattle. He was the Director of Base Operations there – a job that involved pretty much everything but marketing and mountain operations. Prior to that, he was Director of Hospitality at Wintergreen Resort here in Virginia. His experience at ski resorts includes stints at Mount Snow, Vermont; Mammoth Mountain, California; Park City/The Canyons in Utah and Keystone, Colorado.
His experience isn’t limited to winter resorts. He started his hospitality career with the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain in Chicago. He played a pivotal role in opening more than a dozen of the world’s busiest restaurants, ultimately becoming a Regional Director based in Australia and South Africa. In the mid-2000s, he took on responsibilities at various resorts in Texas, gaining skillsets with lodging, memberships, Homeowners Associations, golf, conventions, facilities management and more.
Despite a resumé as a world-traveling hospitality professional, Michael and his wife Robbin yearned to return to Virginia. With a skillset including hands-on experience with virtually every business unit that we operate, we thought he was the perfect choice to lead the Massanutten Team. We sincerely hope you’ll agree!
UPDATE ON SUSTAINABILITY:
As you know, we’ve been investing heavily in energy conservation and sustainability. Recently, we began using our first electric vehicle: a snowmobile (it’s been doing great). Now, we’re taking a hard look at replacing a significant percentage of our vehicle fleet with EVs. Our first proof-of-concept vehicle will arrive shortly: a Chevy Bolt, which will replace a courier vehicle that moves things between various offices here on property. Yes, that’s starting small – but we want to test the idea of EVs in Massanutten’s mountain environment prior to making larger commitments. Assuming things work well, we’ll add other EVs for other purposes to the fleet as older equipment ages out of useful life.
Cordially,
Matthias Smith, Executive Vice President
Mathias, Continued success in your new position!!!!