Editor’s note: this question has been submitted to the Mountain Times on behalf of some members of the Killington community, who wish to remain anonymous. Each week until Town Meeting we will select a question and pose it to the appropriate expert in that community in order to clarify facts. If you have a question you’d like us to consider email editor@mountaintimes.info.
On KPAA-Resort relations
What is the relationship between the Killington Pico Area Association (KPAA) and Killington Resort, specifically, financially? Is the Resort holding up their end of the bargain with events and supporting those efforts?
KPAA Director Mike Coppinger explains:
Yes, it definitely has. The resort said it was going to beef up their events department and they’ve done that. The are currently in the process of with dealing with the AJGA [youth golf tournament] and in conversation with the Stage Race folks, for example. They’ve definitely picked up a lot of those sorts of events that used to cost the town money, time and resources.
We help through evaluations of those summer events – we do surveys and pass information back to the resort about what people thought the impact was of the events for their business.
Two members of the resort’s middle management still sit on the KPAA board and come to meetings: Justin Pill, events and sponsorships manager, and Amy Laramie, internal communications and guest experience manager. So we’re all around the same table discussing what’s best.
Financially speaking, the KPAA benefits from our close relationship with the resort. For our two signature events – the Wine Festival and Holiday Festival – we are able to use the resort’s facility and staff at a drastically reduced price. Without that partnership, we wouldn’t be able to make money and they’re key fundraisers for us. So their in-kind support is hugely important. Additionally, the resort helped us to create a very aggressive sponsorship program for businesses who want to sponsor events. They threw in some “goodies” from the resort to sweeten the pot for sponsorship levels. For example, our Gold sponsors receive a transferable ski pass, which is not offered on the market, it’s only offered through our organization. The resort, of course, also gives us the opportunity to offer both local and regional merchant ski passes for $399 locally or $599 regionally – a huge perk for member businesses and their employees, adding value to their business.
