Mountain resort owner Powdr Corp. is centralizing key functions at headquarters, hoping to get more out of its diverse array of outdoor sports destinations, camps and media properties.
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Wade Martin, president of the company’s 3-year-old Enterprises division, will become chief revenue officer in the reorganization. He will oversee a new internal marketing agency and all business development efforts.
Also, Powdr will soon unveil an internal rebranding initiative that will push the Powdr identity to the forefront of its business-to-business relationships.
“The way we were structured previously, it was almost a holding company model,” said Martin, who will move from Chicago to Park City, Utah, this summer. “The group I was in charge of was almost a stand-alone unit. We’ve created a new centralized revenue team that we haven’t had in the past.”
Powdr is best known for its eight mountain resorts, which still generate the majority of its revenue. But in recent years, the company, led by CEO John Cumming, determined changes were necessary to unlock its full potential.
“It was hard to get them to fully complement each other without greater corporate infrastructure and connectivity amongst the businesses,” said Martin, former president and CEO of Alli Sports. “As we’re looking at driving growth across these businesses, a big part of it is going to come from getting these businesses to work in a more integrated fashion.”
In 2013, Powdr hired Martin to lead the new Enterprises division, focused on building an event, media and sponsorship business. Its accomplishments included the acquisition of Human Movement Management, a mud-run and endurance event operator, and a major strategic partnership with the Boyne Resorts chain.
But now his role will focus on maximizing resort and camp revenue, and leveling out the cyclical nature of those businesses, he said.
“I had a high degree of confidence, which proved to be true, that he’d earn his spurs within the company and it wouldn’t be a shock if he took on a bigger role,” Cumming said of Martin.
Part of the new corporate-level revenue team is a marketing services division, essentially an internal agency for all Powdr divisions. Megan Fearnow and Mietra Beyer, formerly of Factory Design Labs, are leading the marketing division.
The rest of the executive team in the reorganized Powdr corporate team includes CFO Justin Sibley and executive vice presidents Tim Brennwald, who oversees the ski resorts, and Jody Churich, who oversees Powdr’s youth-focused snow and action sports programs, including Woodward camps.
The centralized branding will not be consumer-facing, Martin said. Each resort will continue to be known by its current name.
