Thursday night, Managers, Directors and spouses gathered to celebrate successes of this past year, and acknowledge certain outstanding contributions. After such an extraordinary year, not one, but two President’s Awards were presented for leadership in departmental success. The Franklin G. Drake Award honors stellar leadership for the greater good of the entire company.
Congratulations to this year’s recipients:
• President’s Award: Barbara Basham, General Manager, Cooper Spur Mountain Resort
• President’s Award: Marshall Woods, Lift Maintenance Manager
• Franklin G Drake Leadership Award: Anna Laxague, Risk Manager
Marshall Woods
Marshall’s teammates commend him for his outstanding work ethic and willingness to help. He knows the importance of timeliness in all of our departments. Always looking for opportunity to improve his department’s performance and grow his team. Marshall exemplifies our core value of Passion, coming in early and often staying through the night and early morning hours with his crew to keep lifts operating through freezing rain episodes. He is a behind-the-scenes person who doesn’t get the recognition that others who are more in the spotlight receive, but he is a critical component to our successful day-to-day operations.
We are proud to recognize leaders who exhibited exceptional strength, perseverance, fortitude and tenacity; and Marshall exemplifies work ethic, grit and tenacity.
Barbara Basham
Cooper Spur Mtn. Resort was the last operating unit to close when COVID hit - and the first to reopen. It paved the way for many departments to operate successfully, developing new sanitation methods, dealing with mask compliance interactions and revising its entire operation to remain successful during a pandemic.
Barb is loved and respected by her team - the team satisfaction check-in score has increased the last five seasons, reaching a perfect 10 this season. She cares deeply about her team and helps them learn and grow. Cooper Spur had its best lodging occupancy, setting records in December, January, February and March this season, and Cooper Spur Ski Area operated on its thinnest snowpack in history, providing recreation to those pursuing the outdoors.
Anna Laxague
Anna Laxague took a collaborative approach that sent ripples of excellence through our organization this year. The cycle of prepare, execute, learn and prepare more could not have been better executed as we faced the biggest challenge in our 53-year history. COVID could have brought operations to a halt had it not been for the advance planning and preparation to meet the challenge. Anna was a first responder to this crisis; she helped establish and was part of the COVID Response Team, a monumental effort that provided notification, guidance and support to team members who reported symptoms and contact traced potential exposures.
Mt. Hood Meadows and Cooper Spur Mtn. Resort operated this season without interruption due to COVID, and without any traceable workplace transmissions. Anna was an NSAA Safety Champion finalist and Mt. Hood Meadows’ Coronavirus Readiness Operational Plan was awarded the NSAA Best Employee Safety Program.
Congratulations to all of our award winners and our entire team for the excellent job we accomplished together this season!