According to Andy Wirth, the Olympic Valley Incorporation motion was a recipe for disaster to the Lake Tahoe area. The community and business around this area solely depend on Olympic Valley as their economic pillar. The Olympic Valley. The Olympic Valley harbors North America most prestigious ski terrain. The area is a favorite destination for most ski lovers around the world and a hotbed for winter sports. The Olympic Valley is also home to several resorts that cater for tourists who visit the area and other local businesses that provide supporting services to this resorts. Most of the residents of this area work in the tourism industry and other supporting industries. This literally means that the Lake Tahoe community and businesses around the area totally depend on tourism.
Andy Wirth says that the incorporation of Olympic Valley would have crippled the economy of this area. The incorporation meant that the businesses in the area would be subject to higher taxes thus their operations would be affected. On top of this, it meant that the area would have reduced access to social services and such as ice clearing and road maintenance. Andy Wirth and the Lake Tahoe community stood firm and protested against the incorporation motion. Andy Wirth had to dig deep into his resources to fight against this motion until it was dropped. This success against the incorporation motion means that businesses in the area would continue their operations normally.
Even as normalcy returns to Olympic Valley, the Lake Tahoe community and businesses in the area have more than one reason to smile. This is because the four-year drought that had hit the area just came to an end. In fact this season, business seems to have started on a good leg as the seasonal winds have come early. Most of the businesses and resorts in the area have already opened which is not always the case at this time. Andy Wirth expects that now that the drought is over tourists will flock the area in their thousands. He is positive that this season they might be able to recover what was lost during the drought. On his side, he is ready as his Squaw Valley Ski Holdings purchased the adjacent Alpine Meadows. The two resorts joined their ski terrains to come up with the longest ski terrain in the world. This is expected to pull more tourists in the area to their Squaw Valley Ski Resort.
Andy Wirth is the founder, owner, president of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings which owns the Squaw Valley Ski Resort and the Alpine Meadows resort in Olympic Valley. He is very successful in business and also in his philanthropic efforts. He is the founder of the Wounded Warrior Support, a charity dedicated to helping Navy Seals veterans. He is also the founder of the Crowdrise charity campaign that raises funds to support the Navy Seals Foundation.
Published through the Reno Gazette-Journal.