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What’s New This Season at Wachusett Mountain!
PRINCETON, Ma. – Even though the 2015-2016 season has been underway for almost 1 month, few skiers or snowboarders have had a chance to see some of the improvements mad at Wachusett Mountain for this winter. Here’s a look at some of the changes:
- New State-of-the-Art Covered Carpet Lifts – The Easy Rider Carpet has been replaced by a state-of-the-art “covered” carpet. Beginner skiers and snowboarders can now ride the 500-foot protected from the elements. The 300-foot Ollies Lift has also been replaced this season.
- New Terrain Park Location – Wachusett’s award-winning terrain park is being moved this season from Look Mom to Hitchcock Trail. It will continue to feature a wide variety of jumps, rails and boxes. A smaller progression park will remain on Frannie’s Folly Trail. Wachusett is also partnering with Clif Bar this season as the presenting sponsor of the mountain’s Air Bag. The bag will open sometime in January to sharp new grapics from the popular energy bar.
- New Maple Room – This new larger Mountain Suite Option will quickly become one of Wachusett’s most popular meeting rooms. The Maple Room combines the previous Cedar, Elm/Fir Suites into a well-appointed function space that can easily accommodate more than 100 guests. Improvements were also made for Black Diamond Restaurant patrons – providing them with new rest rooms adjacent to the restaurant, as well as access to the outdoor deck for food & beverage service.
- New Night Ticket and College Pass Programs
o “Late Shift” Night Ticket – new night ski ticket from 7-10 p.m. for only $47 Sunday to Thursday night and $50 Friday and Saturday night.
o New College UPASS “3-Peat” Card – College students who do not purchase a UPass season pass still have an opportunity to purchase 3 days/nights of skiing or riding anytime for only $139.
- New Members of the Wachusett Team
o Kevin McDonald, 62, is Wachusett’s new Ski Patrol Director and Risk Manager replacing long-time director Mike Halloran. McDonald, a retired Worcester Firefighter and former member of the Worcester Police Department, has been an active patrol member since 1968 when he began as a junior patroller. He has previously work on the patrol as a Hill Captain and member of the Professional Day Patrol. McDonald is an EMT and has also earned several commendations during his career as a patroller and firefighter. He lives in Douglas, Ma. with his wife Carol and has 4 adult children and 2 grandchildren.
o Bill Lawton, of Princeton, Ma., is the new Volunteer Patrol Director. Entering his 40th year on the Wachusett Patrol, Lawton brings a wealth of experience, dedication and knowledge to the position. He has served as Hill Captain, was a previous Patroller of the Year and has been an OEC instructor and currently serves as EMARI Assistant Regional Director.
o Charlie Rabe, 33, of Stow, Ma. is the new “Comp” Team Coach. Formerly the Xtreme Team, the Comp Team provides training to kids to compete in freestyle events. Rabe is in his 7th season at Wachusett working as an instructor and trainer. He has also worked as head coach of the Boston University Snowboard Team.
- New Expanded Parking Lot – Wachusett guests will notice significant improvements this winter to the mountain’s lower Number 2 & 3 parking areas with new grading, landscaping and additional spaces
Wachusett Welcomes The Holiday Week with Tons of Activities, a Colder Forecast (and, oh yes, skiing!!)
PRINCETON, Ma. – Despite one of the warmest Decembers on record, Wachusett Mountain has operated for 12 days of skiing and riding since first opening on November 28. As it now enters the popular Christmas/New Year’s Holiday Week, the central Massachusetts mountain is looking for the arrival of colder temperatures to allow snowmaking efforts to kick into high gear.
“This has been a challenging start of the winter for resorts throughout the northeast,” said President Jeff Crowley. “While we would have loved to see a more traditional start, under the circumstances, we’re proud of the effort our snowmaking and grooming crew has made to give us any skiing at all.” While the number of operating days and the terrain has been limited so far this season, the long range forecast calls for more consistent colder temperatures to return to the region in early January, allowing Wachusett Mountain to crank up its snowmaking arsenal expanding coverage. Even with one of the warmest Christmas days on record and a slow start to the holiday week, Crowley added “Once we get temps into the mid-twenties, we’ll be able to open new terrain quickly.”
Meanwhile, Wachusett has put together an expanded list of activities for the Christmas Holiday Week to help entertain its skiers and snowboarders. Activities even include non-traditional winter events like hikes to the Bullock Lodge Cider House, Scavenger Hunts and Frisbee. The higlight of the week will be the mountain’s traditional New Year’s Eve Celebration including a fireworks display. (See attached schedule). For the latest updates or to see daily video snow reports, visit www.wachusett.com.
Success Story – Nypro a Jabil Company
Located in Clinton, Massachusetts, Nypro A Jabil Company is a world-class leader in manufacturing precision plastic products for customers in the healthcare, packaging and consumer electronics industries. When demand exceeded the capacity of its headquarters in Clinton Massachusetts, management began looking at locations to expand. As a global company with 25 dedicated facilities in 11 countries and more than 8,000 employees worldwide, Nypro could have gone anywhere. But the company wanted to stay local to its roots in North Central Massachusetts and ultimately selected a location down the street from its headquarters in Devens, Massachusetts.
“It was important that we keep a close connection to our history as well as the technical resources at our headquarters in Clinton.” said John Witkowski, general manager, Nypro Healthcare, Clinton. “North Central Massachusetts also has the skilled workforce that we needed to continue to grow and a reputation as the center for the plastics industry in the Northeast.”
The 200,000-square-foot modern manufacturing facility features a state-of-the-art training area, metrology lab, a fully digitized machine shop, environmentally controlled chambers, and a 60,000-square-foot, Class 8 clean room. The new facility offers a full selection of Nypro Healthcare services—from product development, mold design and build, to injection molding and automated assembly—for single-use and electro-mechanical Class I, II and III healthcare devices. This additional operational space increases Nypro Healthcare’s clean-room space by 60 percent in Massachusetts and provides for 100 new jobs for the region.
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MWCC to Offer Business-Aligned Certificates in Devens (Classes Start 1/23)
Through three new certificate offerings at Mount Wachusett Community College, you or your employees can earn a business certificate to match your skills. Certificates in Small Business Management, Business Administration, or Accounting/Bookkeeping can be completed by August 2016, positioning participants for career advancement or seamless continuance towards an Associate’s degree in Business. These hybrid certificates were developed in response to feedback from our local business community and will be offered completely on Saturdays at the MWCC Devens campus, with additional program components offered wholly online to match the demanding scheduled of busy professionals. Coursework includes: Accounting, Marketing, Economics, Management, Computer Information Science, Math, and English. Participants complete eight courses in less than eight months, and join a supportive group of professionals in an accelerated format with affordable tuition and no application fee. Classes start Saturday, January 23, 2016. To learn more about these new offerings or to enroll, visit http://mwcc.edu/expertise or call 978-630-9110.
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Success Story – Great Wolf Lodge New England
When Great Wolf Resorts was searching for a location for its first location in New England, it selected the City of Fitchburg in North Central Massachusetts. The Wisconsin-based operator of indoor water park resorts bought a former Holiday Inn Hotel located in Fitchburg, not far from Route 2, and expanded the property with the addition of a 68,000 square foot indoor water park as well as a separate play area complete with miniature golf and a ropes course. The company looked at a number of locations and ultimately selected Fitchburg in North Central Massachusetts for its strong workforce, abundant water supply and proximity to Boston. More than 42 million families with children live within 300 miles of a Great Wolf Lodge.
Great Wolf Resorts invested $66 million in the project, including the construction and acquisition costs.
In return, the City of Fitchburg and the state provided a package of tax deferral incentives that helped support the development and job creation from the project. The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation worked with local and state officials to attract Great Wolf Resorts to the region and helped advocate for the tax incentives for the project. The project helped create over 500 jobs for the region and generates millions in new tax revenues for the city and state.
Community Leader Richard Cella Reappointed to MWCC Board of Trustees
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