If you've got the cash to shell out, the Couloir Restaurant is a pretty cool place to eat. JHMR photo.
Jackson Hole’s housing market is notoriously tough, particularly for those in the lower tax brackets. The problem is so well known that the The New York Times wrote a profile on the ski town housing crisis back in January. Now this problem is beginning to affect local businesses.
Jackson is a seasonally popular place due to the ski resort and nearby national parks. This means that there’s a huge demand for seasonal employment, but because of the lack of housing, businesses are having trouble filling those positions. Small business owners are finding themselves working long hours in lieu of hired help; others have had to reduce hours of operation.
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Jackson Hole Mountain Resort announced Wednesday that the Couloir Restaurant, a high-end establishment at the top of the Bridger-Teton gondola, will close for the summer. The closing comes at the beginning of what could be one of the busiest summers for Jackson Hole, as tourists flock to Grand Teton and Yellowstone for the National Park Service Centennial.
“We’re in the same struggle as the rest of the community," Scott Horn, JHMR chief administrative officer, told Jackson Hole News & Guide. Resort officials cited a struggle to find enough employees to operate the restaurant at company standards. Previously scheduled private events will take place as planned.
CLOSE, BUT NOT ENOUGH
Not a bad place to hang out and work for a while...if you can find somewhere to live. Katie Cooney photo.
JHMR made an attempt to help alleviate the employee housing shortage leading up to the summer. In May, the resort announced a program that would give any Jackson Hole or Teton Valley, Idaho homeowner a 15-day ski pass in exchange for housing a resort employee.
Another program is aimed at getting teachers to work for the resort over summer break, giving them unlimited skiing through December 19 and a seven-day pass after that.
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The town of Jackson and Teton County have supported a proposal for an increase in general sales tax to help address the housing and transportation issues in the valley, which will be voted on in the November 8 general election. Some are pushing for more urgent measures: in May, the Jackson Town Council discussed the possibility of creating a temporary worker campground, but the idea was ultimately passed on for the time being. Looks like you'll have to stick to sleeping in your mom's minivan.
About The Author
stash member Katie Cooney
Skier, photographer, dog lover, adventure seeker. Native of the land of cheese and beer, sometimes called Wisconsin.
pcskigal
June 7th, 2016
Offering three weeks of skiing to teachers for taking a $12/hr job in the summer?? 15 days in exchange for housing a seasonal employee that’s going to split in 6 months?? LMAO. Why don’t they make a REAL offer if they really care about the problem. A landlord risks losing at least four months of rent when they sign a seasonal employee. That’s about $4k in Jackson. Give landlords TWO full season passes or a $4k rebate if the tenant leaves with four or more months left on the lease. You want teachers to work in the summer when they don’t have to work? Give them housing and a season pass. They work all the time in the winter anyway so it’s not like they’ll really use it.
Pdrhnd59
June 8th, 2016
As a former ski employee in Colorado, this is no surprise. When the business model is geared towards trophy homes for the uber-rich this is what happens. Why build something reasonable when you can build a zillion dollar mansion that will be used a couple weeks of the year.
The REAL answer is steep property taxes, with a homestead exemption of the first $250k of value if the unit is occupied by someone with a job in the county.. PUNISH trophy home ownership severely, it is nothing but a cancer on mountain towns.
apollo18
December 1st, 2019
I guess Krowd should open a restaurant up there. Their krowd darden login portal is very amazing.