WHISTLER, BC April 21, 2017 – Every Earth Day for the last nine years, Whistler Blackcomb has been recognized as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers. The distinction is awarded by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers to Whistler Blackcomb for embedding sustainability and energy conservation into their corporate culture.
“Our goal is to become the first large-scale tourism operator in the world to achieve a zero operating footprint,” says Dave Brownlie, chief operating officer at Whistler Blackcomb. “Every decision we make, whether in marketing or operations, is coloured by that motivation and we are honoured to be recognized for our efforts.”
Whistler Blackcomb was awarded based on a number of criteria, including developing unique environmental initiatives or programs. One such program is the EnviroFund, which provides annual grants to registered non-profit organizations working to improve the natural environment in the Sea to Sky Corridor. The fund has provided over $378,000 CAD to local charities through generous voluntary staff donations, which are in turn matched by the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation.
During the 2016.2017 season, Whistler Blackcomb’s Big Picture campaign raised awareness around some of the issues facing the mountain resort industry, including climate change, and highlighted charities that addressed those issues. As part of the campaign, the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation pledged to match any donation made to a local environmental charity, up to $50,000 CAD, and send it to the EnviroFund. More information about The Big Picture campaign is available at www.whistlerblackcomb.com/pwdr-stash/features/the-big-picture.
“When we started this competition a decade ago, the programs we wrote about were largely informal and incidental to an employer’s principal business,” says Richard Yerema, managing editor of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project at Mediacorp. “Over the years, we’ve seen a shift towards more formal programs and strategic sustainability policies, which reflect a much longer term commitment on the part of employers. This year’s winners aren’t afraid to address the adverse impacts of their operations and are charting the course for others in their industry.”
Organizations were chosen based on the following criteria: unique environmental initiatives or programs they have developed; whether they have been successful in reducing their own environmental footprint; whether their employees are involved in these programs and contribute unique skills; and whether their environmental initiatives have become linked to the employer’s public identity to attract new people to the organization.
For more information, please visit http://www.canadastop100.com/environmental/.
Guests looking to plan a trip to the consistently rated No. 1 Mountain Resort in North America can visit whistlerblackcomb.com/purchase/deals-packages or call 1-888-403-4727.
About Whistler Blackcomb
Whistler Blackcomb, the official alpine skiing venue for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, is situated in the Resort Municipality of Whistler located in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia 125 kilometres (78 miles) from Vancouver, British Columbia. North America’s premier four season mountain resort, Whistler and Blackcomb are two side-by-side mountains which combined offer over 200 marked runs, 8,171 acres of terrain, 16 alpine bowls, three glaciers, receives on average over 1,170 centimetres (461 inches) of snow annually, and one of the longest ski seasons in North America. In the summer, Whistler Blackcomb offers a variety of activities, including hiking and biking trails, the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, and sightseeing on the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola.
For more information, visit http://ww1.whistlerblackcomb.com/media
Proud to be a venue for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
Media Notes: Whistler Blackcomb is pleased to provide high resolution photographs available for editorial use, downloadable at the following link: http://ww1.whistlerblackcomb.com/media/photos/photos.asp
Please credit – Photographer Listed, Location: Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia.
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About Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN)
Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading global mountain resort operator. Vail Resorts’ subsidiaries operate 11 world-class mountain resorts and three urban ski areas, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Park City in Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada; Perisher in Australia; Stowe in Vermont; Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan. Vail Resorts owns and/or manages a collection of casually elegant hotels under the RockResorts brand, as well as the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning and development subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com.