THE NOMINATION

Jordan has been a rising star at Killington since he arrived as a student in 2006, quickly proving himself to be motivated, serious, exceptionally detailed and organized, and proactive. Because of his stellar work, in 2007 he was made the uniform coordinator for more than 1,500 employees, as well as the lost and found coordinator. Both are huge responsibilities, and Jordan did a fantastic job. He became the Guest Services Manager in 2008–while still in college–and in 2009 received the Killington Award for Operational Excellence. He is now manager of all guest services, ticket and season pass sales, management of operations at Pico Sports Center, as well as overseer of the Mountain Ambassador Program.

—Jim Shands, facilities manager, Killington & Pico Ski Resorts (KPSRP LLC)

The Interview

Can you tell us what has made you so dedicated to creating a career path for yourself in this industry?

Growing up I spent practically every day during the winter at Brantling, a family ski area my father managed and now owns and operates. I started working there as soon as I was old enough. Being around skiing was all I knew, so it was a clear career path.

Can you tell us about the systems you implement that impressed your supervisors so much?

Killington has five base lodges, and guests' stuff ends up all over the mountain. When I started in guest services, agents had to call each base lodge to check for items every time a guest was missing something. It was time-consuming and didn't end up with many matches. So I created a web-based database where staff list found items and take reports of missing items. Both are in one place and easily visible to all staff for easy matchmaking. It was easy to use, intuitive and helpful, and created happy guests.

Can you describe your approach to guest services and the strategies you use to create memorable guest experiences?

My approach to guest services is simple: treat the guest fairly and give them good value. Most of the memorable experiences I create are through my staff, by making sure they have the most up to date information and know how to use our systems, allowing them to easily deliver good service. Unfortunately, most of the memorable experiences I get to make myself happen after we've done something not quite right, but I always make sure I'm thinking outside the box to solve problems. Last season, for example, we had an issue with our preferred parking vendor—this service wasn't staffed when we advertised it would be. A passholder let us know, and used an analogy of a missing bottle of wine from a case. I decided to present him with that missing bottle of wine the next weekend, instead of just offering an apology.

What accomplishments are you most proud of in your career so far?

The Vermont Student Pass program, which I proposed and implemented. There had been an academic excellence program, offering a heavily discounted pass to local honor and high honor roll students, but nearly all other students were paying full price. The program was also a bear to administer. So I proposed offering the pass to all Vermont kids in grades K-12, found the right price, and was given the green light. Getting kids hooked on skiing and riding is so important for our long-term success as an industry, and we were missing the boat by linking the pass to academic achievement.

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