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Vail Valley business briefs, Sept. 30

Daily Staff Reports
Vail, CO, Colorado

VAIL ” Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and project developer Black Diamond Resorts – Vail LLC recently announced that 30-year Four Seasons veteran Hans Willimann has been named the property’s general manager. Willimann will oversee the opening of the resort in late 2009.

“As a native of Switzerland and an avid skier, relocating to Vail is a dream come true for me,” Willimann said. “I’m looking forward to living and working here and to making Four Seasons Resort Vail a vibrant member of this mountain community.”

Prior to coming to Vail, Willimann was general manager of Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, starting before the hotel’s opening in March 1989. Under his leadership, Four Seasons Hotel Chicago earned both Mobile Five-Star and AAA Five Diamond awards after less than three years of operation.



Willimann joined Four Seasons in 1979 as executive assistant manager of Four Seasons Hotel Toronto. From 1981 to 1989, he held several senior management positions, including general manager of Four Seasons Inn on the Park Houston and Four Seasons Hotel Boston before transferring to Chicago.

Willimann is fluent in Swiss-German, German, French, English and conversational Spanish. He graduated from the Ecole HA’teliere in Lausanne and attended the Commercial School in Zurich as well as the Swiss Mercantile College in London. Willimann and his wife, Louise, settled in the Vail Valley.

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Four Seasons Resort Vail has a 121-room hotel and a Four Seasons Residence Club, with 19 fractional residences and 16 private residences.

For more information, go to http://www.fourseasons.com/ownvail.

VAIL ” Doris Kirchner has returned to Vail Valley Medical Center as senior vice president and Chief Operating Officer after a nine-year stint as the vice president of human resources and executive consultant for KSL Recreation Corporation in La Quinta, Calif.

Kirchner was formerly the COO for Vail Valley Medical from 1985 to 1994 and later worked as a senior consultant to Quorum Health Resources, Inc. before being recruited by KSL Recreation Corporation.

While there, KSL grew from three resort properties and three Vail-based owner- employees to one of the most successful hospitality firms in North America before being sold to CNL Hospitality in 2004. Kirchner’s department, at its height, grew to an employee base of some 8,000 people in six resorts.

“On behalf of myself and the VVMC Board we are excited to have Doris back in her role as COO,” said John Cassin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vail Valley Medical Center. “Doris has a tremendous level of health services administration acumen, knows the history of the organization and has watched it evolve. She will be a great asset in the future of this organization.”

Kirchner’s duties will include growing the medical center in Eagle and Summit Counties, including the Shaw Regional Cancer Center in Edwards and the Eagle Healthcare Center in Eagle.

“I’m very excited to come back to VVMC,” Kirchner said. “I’m passionate about healthcare in this community and believe strongly in the value of our medical team and the services that we can provide those who live and visit the Vail Valley.”

Kirchner, a registered nurse, lives in Gypsum with her husband, John. Outside her professional career she enjoys reading, snowshoeing, hiking and backcountry skiing.

AVON ” Smith Advisors, an Eagle County company providing human resource outsourcing and consulting services to small and mid-size businesses, has announced a partnership with Denver-based Employer Services Group, a human resources outsourcing company with local and national clients.

Smith, a former vice president of human resources for Vail Resorts, said Eagle and Summit County employers needs the combination of services, benefits and technology made available through this partnership.

“Local employers will be able to focus on their business and keep up with the explosive growth in the area and let us handle the day-to-day personnel issues that many times frustrate business owners,” Smith said. “IWith our knowledge of resort communities, our ability to provide large group health, dental and vision plans, combined with our expertise in human resources management, local employers will be able to compete in their respective labor markets, maintain their growth, reduce costs and improve profitability.”

For more information call, 970-331-1905.


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