Government PPP Loans Help 10 Colorado Ski Areas

Believe it or not, not every ski area these days is connected to Vail or Alterra. While their company-owned ski areas didn’t qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program due to their size, several other ski areas in Colorado were able to take advantage.

• Related: Smaller Ski Resorts Look to PPP for Assistance While Big Corporations Cash-In

10 independent/smaller ski areas in Colorado received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from the government. These 10 ski areas combined received between $5 – $13 Million total from the program and were able to save hundreds of jobs.

“We thought it was really important to keep our employees on the payroll. It costs so much to retrain some of these folks that it’s best just to keep them onboard.”

– Tom Hays, Ski Sunlight General Manager

Not only were the funds used for keeping employees on the payroll, but the money was also for projects, renovations, maintenance, and retrofitting ski areas for the projected Coronavirus season ahead. Social distancing and health awareness measures include additional hand sanitizer locations, re-imagining area facilities to space guests and employees out, Plexiglas shields, and more.

With the winter season ahead clouded in uncertainty due to Coronavirus, the PPP loans are a great help to these smaller, independent ski areas. The abrupt ski area closures in March from the initial wave of the virus wiped out crucial months of revenue. These ski areas are highly seasonal and it’s important to keep year-round staff on hand, as foreign seasonal workers may be hard to come by this upcoming winter due to travel and visa restrictions.

“Our employees are the linchpin to our being able to reopen and recover and the PPP gave these smaller ski areas a real lifeline that kept folks on the payroll.”

– Melanie Mills, President & CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA

List of the 10 Colorado ski areas that received PPP loans

     PPP Loan Amount             Ski Resort        Jobs Retained    Location

• $1 – $2 Million                 Wolf Creek        342                      Pagosa Springs, CO
• $.350K – $1 Million          Powderhorn       57                       Mesa, CO
• $.350K – $1 Million          Monarch            182                     Salida, CO
• $.350K – $1 Million          Loveland            51                       Georgetown, CO
• $.350K – $1 Million          Purgatory           36                       Durango, CO
• $.350K – $1 Million          Granby Ranch    75                       Granby, CO
• $.150K – $.350K               Ski Sunlight        44                       Glenwood Springs, CO
• $.150K – $.350K               Echo Mountain   19                      Idaho Springs, CO
• $0 – $.150K                      Silverton             n/a                     Silverton, CO
• $0 – $.150K                      Hesperus            n/a                     Hesperus, CO

*”Jobs Retained” figures from U.S Small Business Association via The Colorado Sun*