{"id":2458897,"date":"2020-05-27T12:47:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T18:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=326402"},"modified":"2020-05-27T12:47:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T18:47:00","slug":"vail-valley-businesses-communities-launch-welcome-home-program-for-second-home-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/vail-valley-businesses-communities-launch-welcome-home-program-for-second-home-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"Vail Valley businesses, communities launch \u2018Welcome Home\u2019 program for second-home owners"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/BestOf-Fly-FishingSpot-VDW-101519.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/BestOf-Fly-FishingSpot-VDW-101519.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/BestOf-Fly-FishingSpot-VDW-101519-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>The Vail Valley&#8217;s lifestyle, as well as health care facilities and other amenities, are part of the basis of the Welcome Home program, which invites second-home owners to spend a season in the mountains.<\/strong><br \/><em>Chris Dillmann\/Vail Daily<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The latest idea to bring some life to the local economy came from what seems an unlikely source: the town of Gypsum.<\/p>\n<p>Gypsum Town Manager Jeremy Rietmann in April had a late-night epiphany: Why not invite the valley\u2019s second-home owners to come for the summer, not just a weekend?<\/p>\n<p>Several hours of work in the wee small hours later, Rietmann had the basics of a plan that became Welcome Home.<\/p>\n<p>The idea is both \u201cbold and boring,\u201d Rietmann said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s bold, because we haven\u2019t seen any other resort communities do it,\u201d Rietmann said. It\u2019s boring, he added, because \u201cIs this even a strategy? We\u2019re inviting people to come to places they already own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s the heart of the idea.<\/p>\n<p>Rietmann said people who own homes in the valley already have a financial investment in the place, along with an emotional investment. Those people also have property rights in Eagle County. They can move to the valley for a time and not be subject to possible restrictions on visitors.<\/p>\n<h3>The whole community benefits<\/h3>\n<p>While Gypsum doesn\u2019t have many second homes, Rietmann said the idea is to boost the entire valley\u2019s economy. Plenty of businesses that work in the eastern part of the valley have their headquarters in Gypsum. Many of the residents work in the resort areas.<\/p>\n<p>More people living in the valley also means more people using the Eagle County Regional Airport, and more people shopping at Costco, both of which are in Gypsum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNormally a big component of our economy is tourists,\u201d Rietmann said. But welcoming second-home owners is another way of putting people into restaurants and shops.<\/p>\n<p>As Rietmann pitched his idea around the valley, the response was positive, and the Gypsum Town Council contributed some money to the effort.<\/p>\n<p>The Vail Valley Partnership and Vail Valley Foundation got involved. So did Vail Health and a number of other local businesses and groups.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/hyfyve.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hyfyve<\/a>, a local marketing company founded by Dennis McMahon, also got on board.<\/p>\n<p>The result of several weeks of work is a toolkit to send to anyone in the valley who knows second-home owners, from Realtors to ski instructors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to mobilize our ambassador networks,\u201d Vail Valley Partnership President Chris Romer said. \u201cEveryone who has a connection to a second-home owner, we\u2019re asking them to reach out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Romer said the Vail Valley Partnership has provided the Welcome Home project with a web landing page with resources for invitations, and information about what businesses are open in the valley.<\/p>\n<h3>Relationships matter<\/h3>\n<p>Tye Stockton, a broker with LIV Sotheby\u2019s International Realty, frequently talks about clients making a \u201cflight to quality\u201d from cities to the mountains.<\/p>\n<p>Stockton said the Welcome Home idea is a good one. While Stockton\u2019s been busy with potential new homeowners, he also keeps in contact with clients he\u2019s worked with in the past.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the beauties of our business is you form these relationships,\u201d Stockton said.<\/p>\n<p>A person Stockton has been working with this spring wants to get out on the Colorado River. Stockton is able to introduce people to restaurateurs, including Matt Morgan of Sweet Basil and Mountain Standard. New homeowners want to know where Stockton shops, and meet those businesses\u2019 owners.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s happy to do it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what this community is really all about,\u201d Stockton said.<\/p>\n<p>Romer said there are parallels between Welcome Home and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vaildaily.com\/news\/vail-all-the-love-returns-for-second-winter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vail All the Love<\/a>, a program created to provide deals to visitors during the national economic slump that began here in 2008.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s how you look at things a little bit differently,\u201d Romer said. \u201cThat\u2019s something our community is really good at.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Romer added that while he\u2019s not in the business of selling against other communities, Welcome Home seems to be unique among resort communities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have open arms \u2014 from 6 feet away, of course,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Vail Homeowners Association Director Jim Lamont said he thinks Welcome Home is a \u201cgood move.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get as many people in as many units for as long as they can stay,\u201d Lamont said.<\/p>\n<p>Rietmann said he understands that some residents may be skeptical of inviting second-home owners to stay for a season, or longer. Those skeptics \u201cdon\u2019t understand\u201d the relationship between the community and those who invest in it from afar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe message is \u2018love your neighbor,\u2019\u201d Rietmann said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s going to benefit, and saving our economy will save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller can be reached at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:smiller@vaildaily.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">smiller@vaildaily.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/vail-valley-businesses-communities-launch-welcome-home-program-for-second-home-owners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Vail Valley&#8217;s lifestyle, as well as health care facilities and other amenities, are part of the basis of the Welcome Home program, which invites second-home owners to spend a season in the mountains.Chris Dillmann\/Vail Daily The latest idea to bring some life to the local economy came from what seems an unlikely source: the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 06:15:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}