Out of the mountains, into an office park

BROOMFIELD ” Despite the construction workers applying final touches of spackle and carpet, Vail Resorts’ corporate headquarters seemed to be humming along like it had always been on the ninth and 10th floors of this tall building in this suburban office park.

You might not realize that the mountain-resort company has just finished relocating its headquarters out of the mountains, a move that it hopes will better position itself as a publicly traded corporation.

Over the summer, about 100 jobs were relocated from the Seasons Building in Avon to the new headquarters in the Interlocken business park in Broomfield. After occupying temporary offices in Broomfield (halfway between Denver and Boulder) for several weeks, employees moved into their new permanent building over Labor Day Weekend.

Instead of the slopes of Beaver Creek, they have views of the Flatirons and the faraway peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park. There’s a golf course next door, and a mall down the street.

The office is full of glass walls, ergonomic chairs and conference rooms with names like “Forever” and “Birds of Prey” ” a run at Vail and the World Cup downhill course at Beaver Creek, respectively.

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Employees said they were still getting used to the change.

“Things are different,” said Heidi Kercher-Pratt, director of marketing for the company. “It is an adjustment in terms of mountain life.”

Her commute includes a few stoplights instead of the windy road down from Wildridge into the roundabouts. Still, the company’s new location isn’t the “hustle bustle” that some people might have pictured, she said. There’s the golf course, and open space in the distance in front of the mountains.

“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t believe in the vision of the company and weren’t passionate about my career,” she said.

The day that Rob Katz took over as chief executive in February, he announced the move from Avon to Broomfield, citing lower costs, an advantage in recruiting and better access to all of the company’s properties.

The move affected 100 jobs in the Avon corporate office. Mountain operation positions remain in Eagle County, which has a peak employment of 13,900 workers.

Of the 100 positions that were relocated from Avon, about 25 people decided not to move with the company, Katz said earlier this year. There are a total of 180 workers in the new corporate office.

The company, which had always been headquartered in Eagle County until this year, has grown quite a bit since Vail Associates was formed to develop Vail almost 50 years ago. It later developed Beaver Creek, bought Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly and a bunch of hotels, went public on the New York Stock Exchange and started developing golf courses and homes.

“I think there’s a new energy now that people have made the move,” Katz said in his office, which looks out to the mountains.

Katz, who lives in Boulder, said his commute to the new offices is about 20 to 25 minutes. However, Katz has said the fact that he lived in Boulder had nothing to do with his decision to relocate the company from Avon.

Most employees are living between East Boulder and Broomfield, Katz said.

Adam Miller, senior online marketing manager, lived in Wildridge but relocated from RTP in Avon to Broomfield with Vail Resorts. He found a townhouse in Louisville. One big difference, he said, is how far a dollar goes.

“The cost of living is a little easier than it is in Avon,” he said.

And urban amenities are exciting to relocated mountain employees, Miller said.

“A lot of people are having fun down here, just as far as city life,” he said.

While the big picture windows that open up to the mountains may keep the company’s connection to High Country immediate, they figure to be a taunting presence to former Eagle County residents when powder days start happening.

“Once the snow starts falling, we’ll all get a little antsy, looking west out the windows,” Miller said.

But he’ll get up to the ski resorts for meetings, Miller said. Katz said he’s working on some kind of program to allow employees to go skiing regularly.

Staff Writer Edward Stoner can be reached at 748-2929 or estoner@vaildaily.com.

Vail, Colorado