The article “Workshop attendees discuss Valley's need for reinvention" definitely got under our skin. While it's a nice thought to have businesses "reinvent" themselves, that often comes with a significant capital requirement. And the comment that a lot of visitors have to "leave The Valley" to get a good meal is downright insulting to the restaurants who kill themselves to put out good food every day. There is a saying in this business regarding being open vs. closed, "You can't make money when you are closed but you can lose a lot of money when you are open." To be open for every service makes no economic sense if there are not enough customers to support it. We're not McDonald’s; we don't stay open for every service to make people feel good that there is something open. It takes significant assets to stay open and lose money. Not to mention we are entering the season of "no-man's land" where counting 25 cars in The Valley becomes a challenge.
The Valley Reporter posted an editorial piggybacking on this topic inferring that because rents are too high in the area, people can't afford to work and live here. That may be part of it, but I think there are a couple of reasons why visitors leave The Valley and why people don't want to work. The town appears to be divided, from Bridge Street to Irasville to Sugarbush and Warren; there is no cohesiveness. Everything is separate and disjointed; there is no common message. There's not even common signage that would give a more cohesive feeling and link us together rather than divide us into separate units.
In terms of employment, the entire state suffers from this problem, not just this area. Upon opening the restaurant, we were shocked by how many people applying for jobs were brutally honest and said they could only work "x" amount of hours because they didn't want to lose their subsidized housing or their welfare and food stamps. How do you develop a workforce that doesn't want to work? Stowe, often the benchmark for a successful resort area, suffers from the same problem – even in large resorts where there are deep pockets, benefits, retirement plans, etc. – they can't hire and keep people either.
It would be our suggestion that rather than creating a "phantom critique," this group schedule some time with each of the businesses to learn what their individual challenges are, something that probably should have happened before their meeting.
Ginger Locke lives Warren and owns The Elusive Moose in Waitsfield.
