Jay Peak expands with foreign investment
September 7, 2009 by USAdvisors
Filed under EB-5 Regional Center News
JAY — Jay Peak Resort is transforming from a sleepy, threadbare local ski area to what its owners hope will become a big, lively year-round destination, all with the help of a federal immigrant investor program.
Bill Stenger, Jay Peak’s co-owner and president, says he is looking at the same immigrant program to create more jobs elsewhere in Orleans County.
The resort is in the throes of an expansion that includes two new hotels, a water park, a championship golf course, an indoor ice arena and other amenities. The golf course is already operating. One of the hotels, with 57 suites and room for 220 people, plus a restaurant, pub and other facilities is under construction. A groundbreaking ceremony was held last month for the ice arena.
Jay Peak avoided ensnaring itself in the global financial credit squeeze late last year by relying on something called EB-5. Championed by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the federal program offers permanent resident visas to immigrants who make investments in commercial enterprises. In Vermont, each investor must kick in $500,000.
The money Jay Peak received through the program was enough to fund the ambitious $100 million-plus resort expansion. The plan could bring up to 600 new jobs to the rural, relatively poor communities surrounding Jay Peak, Stenger said. With the money in hand, Jay Peak is not incurring debt, which would hinder the resort’s ability to make further improvements.
Gov. Jim Douglas is scheduled today to announce an October trip to South Korea, Taiwan and other Asian destinations to drum up support for more EB-5 investors in Vermont. Stenger said he will be part of a delegation that accompanies Douglas.
Stenger also said he has been in contact with a Korean biotech company that is interested in locating near Jay under the EB-5 program.
“It would be something that would be located in the Orleans County community; it could employ a few, if not several, hundred people,” Stenger said. He emphasized the company’s arrival in Orleans County is not a done deal, but it’s gone beyond an initial idea phase. “It’s got a lot of legs right now,” he said.
During the October trip, Stenger said he would work toward bringing other investors to Vermont under the EB-5 program.
“If I see an opportunity for Vermont, I’m going to try to bring that back to the state,” he said. “I’d rather see that in Vermont than in California or South Dakota or Florida.”
Kevin Dorn, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, said Stenger’s involvement in EB-5, along with that of the Sugarbush Resort, has proven beneficial to Vermont and word is spreading. “We are getting a significant number of phone calls and inquiries from Vermont business people,” Dorn said.
Stenger’s pitch
Stenger acknowledges he has a full plate. The resort is about midway through construction and planning for the expansion, so things are probably at the most complicated stage for Stenger.
Leading a tour of the first hotel, with its commanding views of Jay Peak and the valleys to the south, Stenger admitted to fretting about the hotel opening on time. The goal is to have guests begin staying in the building during Christmas week, an important, often lucrative part of the Vermont ski season.
“We’re pushing very hard to finish this in time for the season,” he said.
Stenger has outlined his plans for Jay Peak countless times to dozens of audiences but seems to have lost none of his enthusiasm for the pitch. He relishes the details of a proposed pub’s unique furnishings, the fireplace in every hotel guest room, the numerous skating programs that could operate in the ice arena. A main goal, he repeatedly said, is to make Jay a weatherproof resort.
If it rains or is astoundingly cold in the winter, guests can enjoy a spa, the water park, the ice arena, the pub and the restaurants, Stenger said. In the summer, the ice arena will attract families and participants in hockey camps. The spa, golf course and water park are destined to become year-round attractions, Stenger said.
He said the expansion would ultimately benefit the community by providing about 650 year-round jobs. Now, the resort employs about 150 people in the summer and roughly 600 in the winter. He also envisions the resort as a resource for people living in and around Jay. He hopes local residents will frequently use the golf course, water park, ice arena and other features.
Town of Jay
The Jay Peak expansion is changing the town of Jay in other ways. The Jay Country Store is feeling the effects. Construction workers at the resort have boosted business as they stop in for snacks, lunch and coffee, said store manager Joyce Crawford.
“Any business being generated is a positive,” she said.
Crawford said she doesn’t worry about Jay Peak Resort’s expansion harming the town.
“It will probably bring in new jobs and that brings in money,” she said. “I don’t see any negatives coming out of this at all.”
Jay Selectboard Chairman Marc Burroughs-Biron said the resort changes, the potential for a biotech company, and a 100-house development that is slowly being built will no doubt change the town, but the change will be manageable, he says.
Already, a sewer project costing more than $13 million has gone out to bid. The joint sewer project between the towns of Jay and Troy will quadruple sewer capacity to 800,000 gallons a day, Burroughs-Biron said. The project is made necessary in large part by the resort expansion, but Burroughs-Biron said that is not a problem, given the economic benefits the resort could bring. He said local taxpayers are not funding the sewer project.
The Selectboard chairman also said that perhaps people have misgivings that the resort and the biotech plant, if it comes to fruition, will diminish the remote beauty of Jay. “For anybody that loves nature, this is a paradise,” he said.
“But there are tools that you can put in place and hopefully salvage the rustic beauty of Jay,” Burroughs-Biron said.
Jay has revised its town plan and upgraded zoning laws, he said. “That gives the zoning board the power and authority to make sure what is speculated will be a proper match to the town plan,” Burroughs-Biron said.
Stenger said the Asia trip is no distraction to his immersion in the resort transformation. That transition will go quickly. A small, past-its-prime hotel on the property will be demolished in April to make room for the second hotel, with 120 suites. The new hotel will probably open in late 2011. He hopes to open the ice arena in 2010. The water park could be ready by the end of 2011, Stenger said.
“It’s not boring, I’ll tell you that,” Stenger said of his life amidst the swirl of redevelopment. “We’re extremely busy, but it’s worth every bit of stress.”
Contact Matt Sutkoski at 660-1846 or msutkosk@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com. Sign up for Free Press headlines, delivered free to your e-mail, at www.burlingtonfreepress.com/newsletters.
Expert Tips
As Jay Peak Resort co-owner and president Bill Stenger embarks on a major resort expansion, he’s embraced these ideas:
• NEW IS GOOD: Stenger said he is not afraid to embrace new ideas that seem to make sense. Jay Peak Resort was an early participant in EB-5, which offers residency status to immigrants who invest in U.S. projects, like the Jay expansion. Stenger also endorses the Troy-Jay joint sewer project, which he says will use innovative drying techniques to help minimize environmental effects.
• REMEMBER THE LOCALS: The Jay Peak Resort will be a draw for 5 million Quebecois and millions of others in southern New England, Stenger said. But he said he is strongly encouraging local residents to use the resort, and he is planning programs that will appeal to local organizations and groups.
• TALK, TALK, TALK: Stenger said he has tried to involve the public by repeatedly invited people to the resort to share information about the expansion, and has reached out to local residents to explain what is going on.
• HASTE MAKES WASTE: Stenger said he and his staff have been working hard to make sure construction deadlines are met so hotels and other proposed features at the resort open in time to take advantage of most of next ski season. However, he said he won’t go pressure people to go to fast, because that encourages mistakes.
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