Laurentian Ski Hill is getting what the board of directors believe will be a big financial boost.
That comes from news that the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority which owns the land the Hill runs on, has made an agreement with six municipalities in the area, including North Bay, to annual contribute to the local hill.
The Authority stated the five-year deal could see as much as $65,000 per year towards the hill.
Conservation Authority officials believe the funding will create a financial blue print that will be viable for many years to come.
Mendicino,the Chair of the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority says they did a business plan over the summer and three things came up. The Ski Hill had to increase ad and marketing revenue, two, they had to go over expenses thoroughly to find savings and thirdly was a lack of capital funding.
“The reason the financial model was falling was there was no money set aside for capital, fixed assets,” said Mendicino.
“Anytime there was a capital requirement they had to take from the operating fund.”
The Board of Directors have been working hard this season to try and find different ways to create revenue for the cash strapped Ski Hill.
Kathy Wilcox, the President of the Laurentian Ski Hill Board of Directors, believes this funding couldn’t have come at a better time.
“It’s great news, it’s the thing that we have been asking for, it’s what we need,” Wilcox said.
“This is the worst year possible to have bad weather and a poor start to the season so operating this year has become a bit of an issue but in the past we have put a lot of money into capital and it comes out of our operating funds and we just don’t have the ability. It’s what we need to stay viable and to keep moving forward.”
Wilcox was concerned about the financial status of the hill and feared there was a potential for cuts if money this new money didn’t come in.
“We weren’t there yet, like any business if we aren’t able to cover our costs we obviously have to look at cutting something and we run a pretty bare bones operation now so,” admitted Wilcox.
“It’s a struggle, we are a not-for-profit, a lot of volunteers and certainly this is something that will help us moving forward and something we have been looking for for quite some time.”
Aside from the good news about the funding, Wilcox says they are encouraged by the amount of people and even new skiers that are trying the winter sport.
