One of the main things I admired about Sugarbush when I first arrived here in 2011 was its unapologetic commitment to doing good. Supporting the community. Helping people. Protecting the planet. All the things that now neatly fold into the bucket we know as social responsibility. It is by no means a requirement of running a successful ski resort, but I’ve come to believe that it is essential to building something sustainable. Sustainable for for the planet through environmental initiatives, sustainable for the community in ensuring we’re supporting surrounding businesses and organizations to help them thrive, and sustainable in our efforts to help people, both our guests and our staff.
We as a resort have been highly engaged in these areas ever since I’ve been here and certainly long before that. We do the work because we believe in it. Sometimes the recognition comes after, but that’s not the reason we do it. Yet over the past several years I have realized that this work is absolutely worth celebrating. While I’m never one interested in bragging (some PR guy I make huh?), it feels like we’re overdue to be more purposeful in our sharing of what we’re doing if only to shed light on all the incredible organizations, individuals, and stories that make up our social responsibility efforts.
And so, we are absolutely thrilled to announce our first ever Be Better Here Report, an impact report emphasizing our commitment to social responsibility. The report highlights our work in three main areas: Community, Planet, People. We hope both guests and community members find this report inspiring and as an opportunity to be proud of helping us be caretakers of this amazing place.
Community
We strive to enact positive change to community well-being both in the local community and the ski industry as a whole.
Planet
Sugarbush is entrusted to sustain the lands in the Mad River Valley. We believe we have a shared responsibility to take climate action and protect the natural environment.
People
We are committed to supporting the progression and development of a community in which individuals from all backgrounds can come here to work, explore, and adventure. We are dedicated to creative an inclusive environment, supported by equitable systems, for guests and employees alike.
A Thank You To Our Team
This report was the effort of many. It was the brain child of Joel Rhodes, who oversees our sustainability, and myself, and Joel collecting a significant chunk of the information you’ll find within the report. Additionally, we recruited the help of Corinne Chiarchiaro on marketing team who basically did all of the layout and design work for this piece, particularly impressive given that we’d never tackled anything like this before. There were so many others who helped us as well. Please join me in thanking numerous members of the Sugarbush team, as well as a number of our partners for all the great information we were able to include here.
Preview John’s Letter
