SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, Aug. 29, 2023—Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI) is making a series of executive changes to accommodate its growth and to align itself for future expansion. PGRI owns five North American mountain resort properties—Jay Peak, Vt.; Mt. Washington Alpine Resort, B.C.; Powderhorn Mountain Resort, Colo.; Wintergreen Resort, Va.; and Wisp, Md.—and manages the mountain operations of Ragged Mountain, N.H.   

Among the executive changes, current chairman Douglas Anderson will transition from chairman of the resort operating company to chairman and CEO of PGRI’s affiliate company, Resort Asset Holdings. In this role, Anderson will concentrate on real estate development and redevelopment at the PGRI resorts. He will remain majority shareholder and on the board of PGRI.  

“The purchases of our resorts have included a fair amount of property, and Doug has significant experience in real estate,” said current PGRI president and CEO Vernon A. Greco. “We’re at the point where we have more opportunities in those areas and that experience will be invaluable.”

In addition, Greco will become chairman of PGRI, and current executive VP and CFO Mark K. Fischer will become president and CEO. The changes become effective in March 2024. Greco and Fischer will continue to serve on the PGRI board and remain principals

“Mark has been at PGRI since the beginning, and a lot of the growth we have been fortunate to experience is the result of his vision for the company’s expansion and his marshalling of resources so we could make the acquisitions we have thus far,” said Greco.

PGRI has hired Gregory Stevenson to serve as its new VP and CFO. Stevenson has been a CFO at private firms and publicly traded companies such as Fidelity National Financial, where he was the CFO for several FNF companies and companies owned by its chairman, William P. Foley II, including Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana. For more than a decade, he worked on Olympic committees for the Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City Games and for the International Olympic Committee.  

“Greg’s experience in the ski industry at Whitefish as well as at a variety of other types of companies will bring added expertise and an additional resource for us as we look forward to further growth, both organically and through additions to our family of resorts,” added Greco.

In the decade since its founding in 2013 by Fischer and Anderson, PGRI has grown into a mountain resort and hospitality company operating six properties ranging from the modest-size Powderhorn Mountain Resort to the recently acquired, and much larger, Jay Peak. The executive changes are the result of the company’s long-term strategic and succession planning.

“Given our current size, this collection of resorts presents challenges from funding capital investments to the need to improve back-office functions, a C-Suite with the expertise of Vern, Mark, Greg, and our CMO Christian Knapp, means we have the resources to continue to move forward in a strong and strategic way,” Anderson said.