To the Massanutten Community:
Following up on my June 5th post, I thought it would be helpful to give you a brief overview of the different entities that comprise Massanutten Resort.
You’ve heard the names Great Eastern, Great Eastern Resort Management, GE, Great Eastern Resort Corp., and others. Sometimes it seems as though these businesses’ names fold into one. From a guest-facing perspective they should, but for the business relationship we have with MPOA, it might be helpful to spend some time on the particulars.
This is because the best way to solve a disagreement amicably is to understand the people on the other side, and what they need and want. My goal in all of these notes is to help you understand us as we move forward to a resolution of our disagreements. We’re your neighbors, we share a unique and beautiful mountain community, and our goals really aren’t that different from yours.
For the most part, Massanutten Resort’s goals are driven by our mission and guided by our employees, who are the owners of the various companies that make up Massanutten Resort. Those of you who have lived at Massanutten for many years will remember the names of Dice Hammer and Jim Lambert; they were the two partners who bought Massanutten Village and this mountain out of a bankruptcy court in the mid-1980s.
Over a 20-year period from the late 1990s through the middle of the last decade, Dice and Jim pursued a process of selling Massanutten Resort to its employees. Although Dice still sits on our board of directors, the Resort has been – since of 2015 – 100% owned by our employees and retired employees.
Each of our employees begins to vest ownership in company stock after two years of employment and can own vested shares for up to ten years after departing the company, reaching a certain age threshold, or retiring.
The vast majority of our employees live in Rockingham County or nearby, and many of us are MPOA members. This company’s owners serve tables, drive nails, clean accommodations, schedule reservations, run zip-lines, operate computers, and do a million other things for our property and for our guests.
They also recognize that many of our guests are themselves, property owners, with a vested interest in Massanutten Resort. Our goal is to support these owners’ love of the mountain and their annual return for the lifestyle and vacation experience that attracted so many of MPOA’s member here. In short, we’re a team. We love and care for the mountain; we want to make it a wonderful home for us as members of this community and as a haven for our guests.
We do this by operating several different businesses. While our team shares a common mission and set of company values, we have established a number of specific business entities in order to better align and focus on specific business needs. Examples include sales, construction, and owners’ association management, but there are more.
I’ve asked Garrett Smith, our in-house Counsel, to outline a little bit about how our businesses are organized. You can find that by clicking here.
Cordially,
Matthias Smith, VP/General Manager, Massanutten Resort
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