As the summer season at Big White hits full swing, Michael J. Ballingall, the resort's senior vice president says construction on the new staff accommodations is progressing nicely.
"The people that do the roof are on top of the roof putting the shingles and everything on the roof, the windows are going in this week," Ballingall said, adding the drywallers, plumbers and electricians will start work on the inside soon.
"We want that building in our hands for furniture move-in come Oct. 31."
The resort is spending $12 million on a new staff accommodation building in Black Forest.
"We are in a position now that in our key jobs, if you want a job, we have a bed for you and these beds come with amazing views."
Ballingall says competition to attract workers in the ski resort business is fierce and he hopes these new accommodations will help give Big White a leg up on the competition.
"We're competing with Fernie, Silver Star, Sun Peaks and Revelstoke, not only for the jobs, but the staff accommodation is what you're competing on."
Ballingall says the new accommodations will be rented to staff for between $700 and $800 per bed and there are no more than two to four people in a room. So far the number of applications has far exceeded the demand.
"This is really boding well for us, we've got over 3,000 applications for about 920 jobs this year," Ballingall says.
Big White staffing levels are now back to pre-pandemic, levels, "so we get to pick really talented people looking for a career in tourism and hospitality."
Ballingall says despite a delayed start to the summer season, things are looking good so far and he encourages anyone looking to get out of the heat to head to the higher elevation.
"We had a record weekend this last weekend with visits to the mountain and chair lift rides. It's so good to get to tell people you're 10 to 12 degrees cooler than (in the Valley.) When it's 35 degrees in town people are looking to escape and just coming up and sitting in the village and enjoying a refreshment and an ice cream cone," Ballingall says.
The next big summer event at the resort will be the family carnival on July 20, followed by Dog Days on July 27, The Spartan Race on Aug. 24 and the BC Cup Aug. 30 and Sept. 1.
