Dear Editor,
As the current President of the Killington Pico Area Association, I would like to thank everyone for the efforts in making 2015 a great year. How did we get there, you may ask? We accomplished it by working together; the business community, Killington Resort and the town.
Most significantly, we transitioned the Chamber into the Killington Pico Area Association, allowing us to increase our revenues making us a more viable, sustainable organization. Through our partnership with the Resort, we introduced a new regional merchant pass and expanded our membership which allowed us to now partner with some very important businesses and institutions in the region. These new relationships allows us to shape the organization into a regional one, not just a town chamber.
Partnering with the town of Killington, we constructed the Park and Ride, adding wayfinding signage and planting flowers to create a true sense of arrival for our visitors at our new Welcome Center. We also expanded those Welcome Center hours to seven days a week to make sure our customer services keep up with our progress. Additionally, we are in the process of establishing a hiking trail that will run from the Welcome Center to our beautiful natural resource, Kent Pond.
Another great project the KPAA has worked on is creating a Beautification Fund. This allows us to solicit donors so we can develop beautification projects in the Killington area. Our first larger project with a cost of almost $30,000 is the building of a covered bridge across from the fire station which will allow us to rival other ski towns with that quintessential Vermont look our visitor desires. Our mission is for that fund to continue to grow and offer opportunities for build and beatify the surroundings of the Killington Area.
The summer season is key to the vitality of the area. Collaborating with the town and resort, we plan to work together to expand the Cooler in the Mountains summer concert series from five concerts to eight with the help of our new partnerships. We also have several new events on our upcoming schedule.
Today our community is better off than it was a year ago. The reason for this is that we are all working together for a common interest. The representatives and members of our Board of Directors are made up of town officials, the business community members and Killington Resort. With the town election coming upon us, we must recognize that the path we have taken is one of collaboration and cooperation and that has allowed us to pursue our common goal, which is to improve this community. Please get out and vote this March 1, 2016 and support the candidates who have helped us get to this point.
Thanks,
Howard Smith, Killington
