When you can't hire employees, buy them housing: Utah companies are combating inflation by subsidizing housing, increasing wages, and launching training programs.

• Author: Mumford, Jacqueline

YOU'VE HEARD IT A LOT LATELY--inflation's high, and so is the number of job openings. In a tight job market, companies across the country have struggled to attract and maintain talent.

For Park City Mountain Resort, offering company-sponsored housing might be the solution to shifting workforce needs.

"Housing availability is essential for the sustainability and vitality of all resort communities, as well as our business," says Deirdra Walsh, the top executive and operator for Park City Mountain.

Construction began on the project in June 2021. In the 2022-23 winter season, doors will open on the Canyons Village Employee Housing development for 441 Park City Mountain employees. The housing development sits in the Canyons Lower Village, next to the Cabriolet ski lift.

"This prime location ensures convenient access to work, public transportation, and all the wonderful experiences Park City has to offer," Walsh says. "Mountain resort communities are some of the mosf desirable places for people to live and work. Because of that, the need for employee housing takes on a unique urgency for the ongoing vitality of the community and the businesses that operate within it."

This effort to offer employee housing is part of a $30 million commitment made by then-CEO Rob Katz in 2015. The Canyons Village project is the first deliverable on this nearly 10-year-old promise.

"Employee housing, and this project in particular, has been a long time in the making with our partners," Walsh says.

Those partners come from both the public and private sectors. Canyons Village Management Association, Columbus Pacific, and Summit County, Utah, were all involved in signing the five-year lease. Walsh says the resort will continue to aggressively pursue affordable housing opportunities for its employees, both on land it already owns and through leasing existing developments.

"Our housing initiative in Park City was one of four projects," she says. "While we understand that some of our mounfain communities have concerns about new developments, we believe it's time for us and our communities to make affordable housing a top priority and accelerate the processes to ensure we collectively make progress."

While "shifting workforce needs" was one of the reasons Park City Mountain decided to make good on the $30 million commitment, recent fluctuations in the labor market didn't inspire this kind of housing arrangement. In fact, it's a pretty standard offering, says Ryan Davis, a partner at J. Fisher Companies who oversees affordable housing preservation strategy.

"There's a historical trend of resorts and other organizations in the hospitality and entertainment industries providing housing for employees," he says. "Traditionally, it's for seasonal workers or operational staff, just to aid in their availability and to increase their proximity."

But in...