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Deer Valley Has More Than 400 Beds For Winter Seasonal Employees. Is It Enough?

As a premier ski resort, Deer Valley manages 1,200 bedrooms for patrons. Maintaining a quality guest experience throughout the resort, though, requires a big staff, most of whom are only there for the winter months—and many of them need lodging accommodations themselves. KPCW dives into the housing that’s available for seasonal employees at the resort.

Chris Lampe, director of human resources for Deer Valley, says the resort owns two properties within Park City limits, one in Prospector and the other near the Park City Mountain Resort base. He says they also rent out units at another Park City property; and lease cabins at River's Edge Campground in Wasatch County. In all, Lampe estimates there are 415 beds available to full-time winter seasonal employees. They hire nearly 2,300 workers for the winter season, though Lampe says not all of them need housing.

“We certainly have more interest than we’re able to fulfill, as far as number of beds, and it depends year to year," Lampe said. "It flows a little bit up and down, depending on sort of the economy here as well.”

The properties range from dorm-style housing to units that are more like studio apartments, with kitchens, washers and dryers. Deer Valley also provides transportation from Wasatch County, and the Park City-based properties are on transit lines. The cost varies depending on the unit and whether the employee shares it with roommates, but Lampe says it ranges from under $400 per month to $750, though employees pay per night. Lampe’s sense is the rent doesn’t cost-burden workers.

“In general, it’s accessible, especially compared to market," Lampe said. "We also work hard to try and make sure that we limit—you know, you don't have a first and last, and so that makes it a lot easier for people to make the move here and to get into housing, and not have that couple $1,000 sort of down payment that they need to make at most of the market-rate places.”

Although Deer Valley doesn’t have a target goal to meet for workforce housing, Lampe says the resort continues to research its options.

“We've had housing for 25 years now that we've been able to provide, and so it's been a long process," Lampe said. "Certainly, we continue to look for every opportunity to expand that where it makes sense.”

In response to conversations by the Park City Council around employers’ responsibility for housing their workforce, Lampe says it shouldn’t fall solely on businesses’ shoulders. He says Deer Valley has worked to be part of the solution to providing safe and comfortable housing for the seasonal workforce, but there’s more to it than that.

“I think you would also find that many employees in town work more than one job, and therefore also work for more than one employer," Lampe said. "So, it's hard to say that one employer is responsible for housing, when it's really a community effort in order to make the whole thing work.”

As the Snow Park Village development is built out at the base of the resort in the next few years, Steve Issowits, director of real estate at Deer Valley, says it’s too early to provide specifics on workforce housing to accommodate additional employees that come with the development.

Emily Means hadn’t intended to be a journalist, but after two years of studying chemistry at the University of Utah, she found her fit in the school’s communication program. Diving headfirst into student media opportunities, Means worked as a host, producer and programming director for K-UTE Radio as well as a news writer and copy editor at The Daily Utah Chronicle.
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