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Positive Economic News for NEK

Jay, Vermont - July 29, 2009

It's a sound you don't always hear in this economy-- hundreds of construction workers busy on a big project, including Mary Lynch.

"It's pretty exciting to hear that there is more industry coming to Vermont," said Lynch, a plumber.

This is Jay Peak's new hotel and spa that is set to open this winter.

Owner Bill Stenger gave us a tour of the space that will include several restaurants and a country store. But much more is planned. There's going to be an ice rink, another hotel and the biggest water park in New England-- projects totaling $100 million.

"It will allow us to keep our guests excited every month of the year and it will keep our employees employed every month of year," Stenger said.

The resort plans to keep on its 600 part-time workers full time and add up to another 400 full-time jobs, plus all the work has helped local construction crews. The down economy is not impacting the project because Jay Peak used a federal program to find foreign investors. Anyone who invests a half million dollars in a business in a rural region or a region with a high unemployment rate can get a green card.

"Everybody wins," Stenger said. "We get equity capital, the state gets job creation and the investor gets access to live in the U.S."

It's a program that's taken Stenger all over the world and led to a relationship with a biotech company in Korea. It wasn't a fit to invest in Jay Peak, but using the same federal investment strategy, Stenger says he's close to a deal for the company to start an office in the Northeast Kingdom.

"We're looking at anywhere from 200-400 jobs high paying research jobs that will truly make an impact on this part of Vermont," Stenger said.

Projects that have the attention of the community and state leaders. Many showed up to celebrate the success at Jay Peak that could help everyone. In total over 1,000 jobs could open up in the next year.

"What it's doing is encouraging other business people and entrepreneurs and investors to look at us in a different way and say we are worth investing in," said Patricia Sears, the executive director of Newport City Renaissance.

All the work at Jay Peak will be done in about two years and Bill Stenger says he hopes to have news about that Korean firm coming to the area very soon, saying he would not have gone public about it unless he was confident it would work out. The company is called Bioheart Korea, or BHK. It does a lot of high-tech medical research; projects like a dialysis machine that is small enough to fit in a suitcase. Stenger says if the company moves here a lot of those jobs will be manufacturing.

Kristin Carlson - WCAX News