RANGELEY – When the Berry family purchased Saddleback Mountain in 2003, it employed 66 people and drew roughly 15,000 skiers annually. A decade later, Saddleback employs more than 225 people during peak winter season, has added $40 million in infrastructure improvements and draws more than 100,000 visitors annually.
The Berry family has operated the mountain over the past 10 years with two goals in mind: providing employment in the Rangeley area and affordable skiing. After 10 years, Faith Berry said today, the family felt it was at a “really good place” to evaluate the mountain’s next few steps. To do that, Berry said, the owners were looking for a “fresh perspective.”
The family has put 400 acres of their 8,000 acre parcel up for sale for $12 million through Malone Commercial Brokers, a Portland firm, including Saddleback’s 66 trails and glades, four chairlifts, the lodge and condominiums. Selling the property is just one possibility, Berry noted; the family was also entertaining ideas of partnering with another developer or spinning off part of the operation into a non-profit organization, aimed at continuing to meet the Berry’s family’s goals of employment and affordability.
“We want to bring in fresh ideas, fresh investment, fresh energy,” Berry said.
The next major step for the resort, Berry noted, could be the development of a hotel or additional condominiums. That’s not something the Berry family, which has an agricultural background, knows a lot about. “We need to think towards where the mountain will go next,” Berry said.
Saddleback has grown in recent years, in more ways than the mountain’s obvious increases in its customer base, workforce and infrastructure. It has remodeled itself as a full-time resort, with popular events like the Bluegrass Festival in August and making itself available for year-round gatherings such as weddings, artist workshops and conferences. In 2011, Saddleback became the first Maine business approved to operate a Regional Center within the federal Immigrant Investor Pilot Program known as EB-5, which is aimed at boosting foreign investment in local companies. In May, Saddleback received the 2012 Governor’s Award for Business Excellence.
“The area has been supportive, has been good for us,” Berry said. Whatever direction the family decides to move the mountain in, she said, would rely on their original goal of preserving employment in the area.
“The thing I would say we’re the most proud of is our staff,” Berry said. “We have an exceptionally hardworking and a dedicated group of people. They’re just the best.”
One option would be to hand the operation of the ski mountain over to a non-profit, Berry said, which could approach other foundations and private donors to fund capital improvements. The attraction of a non-profit was that after paying off operating expenses and debt, funds could be reinvested in the resort or Rangeley Lake area.
Berry said that she expects the family to make a decision about the future of the mountain, whether it involves a new owner, a partnership between a new owner and the Berry family or a non-profit organization, within the next year.
Thanks for resurrecting the mountain back at the turn of the century. I hated seeing it dormant and hope it doesn’t become so. My kids have learned to ski there and what a great atmosphere to to ski in. Big mountain and no attitude. truly the best.