Going Down The Canyon: New Vail Resorts CEO Eyeing HQs Move

Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz is planning to move the company’s corporate HQs out of Avon, Colorado, “perhaps as close to his Boulder home as he can reasonably get it,” according to Al Lewis of the DENVER POST. Katz has “enumerated several reasons for the move.” The current HQs “could be put to more productive use as retail space,” the company “can get cheaper real estate down the mountain” and it “will have lower administrative costs in the Denver area.” The relocated site “would be closer to Denver International Airport and more centrally located among Vail Resorts’ many other properties.” About 100 employees would be affected by the move. Former Vail Associates exec Jerry Jones said, “It’s great turmoil for a lot of families. It will be interesting to see how many employees refuse to go. A lot of people came to work for Vail Resorts because it is in Vail.” Avon Mayor Ron Wolfe said, “We’re all very surprised and disappointed. We’re losing some of the best-paying career jobs in the community.” Eagle County Economic Council Exec Dir Don Cohen said, “Maybe it’s an inevitability of life in public-company/corporate world.” A recent headline in the Aspen Times stated, “Even Vail Doesn’t Want To Be In Vail” (DENVER POST, 3/17).