EDITOR'S LETTER

KEVIN MAX | BEND BUSINESS REVIEW | DECEMBER 2007

Kevin Max, Editor

t. Bachelor’s relationship with locals is at stake. The Powdr Corp.-owned ski area raised the prices of season passes to a level that all but excludes local families from skiing together and put a prohibitive premium on holiday skiing. At the same time, Powdr Corp. has sold off $11.3 million in assets in a company it paid only $28 million for in 2001.

While other ski resorts are sinking millions of dollars into upgrades—above and beyond maintenance—the message from Mt. Bachelor/ Powdr Corp. seems to be a plea to its customers to help it sustain the status quo.

Powdr Corp.’s capital investment in the mountain is multiples lower than that of its predecessors and, locals and past board directors say, it’s evident in the constant problems with their lifts, the lines at its ticket windows, and in the amenities and lifts opened only for the throng of holiday visitors.

Bill Healy, second only to Mother Nature in Mt. Bachelor’s creation, had drawn in the community to create a ski area and make it a local treasure. The resort opened in 1958 with a rope tow and a board committed to improving the resort while keeping it affordable for families.

Under Powdr Corp., a different philosophy pervades, and that transition is captured in “Breaking Point” (page 52).

I’ll take ‘Visionaries Named Bill’ for $200, Alex. Sisters-resident Bill Willitts is a visionary on the verge. The developer, problem-solver and philanthropist dares to do the right thing and look far into the future while “throwing the rope back over” for others to follow.

In his conception for the new FivePine Lodge, Willitts’ planned a complex that minimizes traffic impact to the already crowded streets of Sisters and inspired entrepreneurs join him in this effort (“Bill Willitts Wants Rebalance Global Wealth Inequality,” page 64).

The entrepreneurial spirit comes in many erent packages and applications in “Patents Pending” (page 70). An 80-foot water cannon and an all-in-one dumbbell are just a couple the solutions to life’s problems and inconveniences. We listen to the trials and tribulations five Central Oregon inventors, and find out what it takes to get their (and your) product market.

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone for their comments about the first issue of Bend Business Review. The vast majority of them were related the city’s ongoing Juniper Ridge debacle, which was written by Allan Bruckner, and most of those comments were positive. Th is issue of Bend Business Review takes us into the lives of people who use their creativity to make the community a better place and behind the façade of other entities, where the motive to do the right thing is more elusive.

Kevin Max, Editor