"This is an important part of this area, and it will stay and remain operational."
Vermont -Â Great news for employees, residents in the area, and skiers alike; Jay Peak Resort will remain open. Â Better news, it appears the Q-Burke Hotel at Burke Mountain will also finally see its opening, though under a new name.
At a press conference held at Jay Peak Resort on April 28, 2016, Michael Goldberg, reassured everyone that the funds had been located to keep the resort operational. Â The attorney a federal court judge appointed to handle the receivership of Jay Peak Resort, the Q Burke Hotel, and other properties held by Bill Stenger and Ariel Quiros during the on-going EB-5 fraud investigation, spoke alongside Vermont State Governor Peter Shumlin.
"I'm convinced that going forward, Jay Peak and Burke Mountain have a bright employment future for Vermont," Shumlin added.
This is very important for many reasons. Â The first obviously is the jobs of those who work directly for, and around the resort. But the lives of many of the EB-4 investors hand in the balance as the investigation unfolds.
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400 of the investors still have no idea whether they will get their “green cards†for permanent U.S. residency. “The jobs need to be created, and there needs to be evidence their money created those jobsâ€...
The resort reportedly needs $7 million to $11 million to run the hotels, water park and mountain operations through the off season, and more than $5 million to repair the tram system.
"We have $4.7 immediately available funds that I have authorized and will put immediately into the operating accounts. We additionally have funds in an account a bank had frozen. They have frozen at least $3 million more than they claimed they owed,†said Goldberg.
Reportedly there's also a Canadian bank account discovered, containing some $1.3 million.
By our math, that still appears to come up a little short, but experienced in receivership, Goldberg is confident, telling reporters there is a "99.999 percent guarantee" Jay Peak and Burke will open for the 2016-17 season.
Resort general manager Steve Wright said, they have a very busy summer already planned including at least 65 weddings, a concert series, approximately 11,000 rounds of golf, and weekend hockey tournaments. Â "This could be our busiest summer ever, in terms of traffic and revenues," Wright said. "We think it'll be a great summer here."
In the meantime the resorts will remain under the control of the federal receiver Goldberg, but his future plans for the resorts do include eventually selling them. However, he explained authorization to take certain major steps such as selling Q Burke would have to come from the court.
Cover Photo: Jay Peak Resort
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