Yesterday’s blog post, ‘Sugar Loaf’s attempt to gain a shred of respect’, struck a chord with a number of people. I encouraged readers to share their comments, send me stories of their experiences and memories. I then took it a step further and reached out to Sugar Loaf’s latest investor, Liko ‘Sean’ Smith, a Las Vegas based entrepreneur and asked him for his comments and opinions on the project.
Sean promptly responded and I was given full permission to publish the comments, so here it is, unfiltered, straight from Sean himself.
“Dear Jason,
I have read your blog,..fair assessment.
I agree that fairy dust and good intentions and money have nothing to do with opening this resort.
It comes down to sweat, and more sweat and a vision that is precise. Our plans are to focus on the hotel first, as we understand the true nature of what we’re dealing with on the mountain and the sugar barn and the golf course. And have the mountain open by December 25th, Samuele Piana of Ski Resort Solutions is giving me a month of his life to assess what we need to do to make that happen starting May 1st.
My website, Likosmith.com asks people to get involved by sending memorabilia, etc. (Friends Of Sugarloaf), so that we can use this authentic approach to decorating the inside as we hammer out the basic necessities of plumbing, electrical and roofing, ..another problem has been to much fairy dust,..people need to start putting their time and energy and money where there mouth is; it is a shame, that an outsider has to double down when so many locals send 1,000’s of emails about “why can’t it reopen?”..I don’t have that same convenience, I am risking everything so I plan to put people to work immediately.
There are 19 families that have created wineries, the entire town of Cedar, and many of the contractors in the area can use the work,..but most importantly, there is a market “today” for that mountain to be open in some capacity, so these jobs sit empty because no businessman has yet to take the bold risk,.until today.
Ask people to start getting involved, notify the ski teams to reserve rooms for the winter, send memorabilia, donate for the book, but don’t just sit there and watch it all unfold with fingers crossed. Michigan of all places has been decimated by the recession; this can all turn around in Leelanau county because in it’s most basic form, Sugarloaf should be an excellent place for kids to ski/snowboard…in the future, talking about the past doesn’t change it.
I like our article, well said.
Sincerely,
Sean Smith”
Sean is encoraging people to get involved, grab a shovel, commit funds, donate your memorabilia – get involved and make it happen. You can read his personal blog updates at likosmith.com.
What do you think of the plan that has been outlined, seem feasible, does it make sense?
