“We are so excited to get going for winter. It finally looks like winter up here. We definitely are still hiring, and it’s difficult to hire. We have enough staff to get open, and that’s our first target.” -Karen Cameron, Human Resources Director at Loveland
Snow has finally arrived at Loveland Ski Area. Now the challenge is hiring enough people to run the resort and providing them with affordable housing for seasonal employees:
“This year we’re probably going to be able to house about 10% of our staff. We probably need to do more going forward to be able to staff the operation.”
“We need employees, and Clear Creek County is getting more expensive to live in. People are finding it harder and harder to find housing when they work a seasonal job. It is very expensive. And there’s not a lot of properties. It’s pretty limited. Supply and demand. It’s becoming harder and harder for people moving into the community to actually buy in the community.”
Communities all across the Colorado high country are dealing with an affordable housing crisis. Summit County is offering homeowners money to take their rentals off sites like Airbnb or VRBO and instead lease them to seasonal workers. For Loveland, the motel is just a start. The ski area hopes to provide more housing in the coming years.
