101 Ways And Counting
Our B Corp™ ethos is at the heart of everything we do as a resort, as members of our community and as stewards of the environment. Below is a list of 101 initiatives (and counting) that demonstrate how inspired we are to embrace these ideals as a community. We look forward to growing this list.
WORKERS
1. We made a commitment to pay equity as it is the foundation of inclusion—we are committed to ensuring we pay our people fairly based on comparable work, experience and performance, regardless of gender, race, religion, or age
2. Staff are able and encouraged to use their paid volunteer time to give back to the community. In 2019 our staff contributed 291 hours of paid volunteer time throughout Taos County
3. We are committed to B Lab’s Inclusive Economy Challenge & diversity/inclusion efforts
4. We committed to increasing our minimum wage to a living wage for our staff, based on the MIT calculation for Taos County
5. We value the importance of Mental Health First Aid and provide training for all our managers & first responders to be Mental Health First Aid Responders. We are also actively working to break down the stigma around mental health
6. We have a partnership with Greenheart Exchange, one of the only non-profit work and travel agencies that recruits our international staff and promotes volunteer activity
7. We created an Environmental, Social, and Governance portfolio with our 401K so people could ensure their contributions were more sustainable
8. In order to be more inclusive and help our staff members plan for retirement, we have expanded our 401K program to include our seasonal staff
9. We offer a free staff shuttle – reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 299 metric tons of CO2
10. We have a first-time home buyer discount of $1,000 off closing costs for our staff members
11. We have incorporated a give-back component to all staff parties to connect our seasonal staff to the community
12. We have participated in the Fit for Snow program for over 5 years – an educational program to increase awareness around exercise and nutrition to help alleviate injury for on-snow staff
13. We offer discounted gym memberships to local gyms for our staff
14. We have a safety committee dedicated to promoting and improving the safety and well-being of our staff members & guests
15. We offer free yoga classes for staff members throughout the winter season
16. We provide healthy “snack days” once a month during ski season for all staff members
17. Recipients of the 2020 Platinum New Mexico Family Business Award. Highlights of our practices include:
- Paid parental leave policy
- Encouraging an active lifestyle
- Paid health days
- Our robust employee assistance program
18. We renovated and improved many work spaces throughout the resort, ie: staff locker room, Rio Hondo Learning Center, Patrol headquarters, admin office, and more
19. We invested in the Avalung packs for Ski Patrol
20. We have continuously been upgrading vehicle fleets for staff
21. We offer a robust Employee Assistance Program for both staff and their family members
22. We offer paid parental leave for qualifying staff members
23. We offer paid health days to both year-round staff and seasonal staff members
24. Payout of staff bonuses when the company does well financially
25. Purchased & renovated employee housing units to offer affordable housing options to staff
26. Increased the 401K match for those that qualify from 3% to 4%
27. Continue to pay 75% of our FTYR staff’s health insurance and 65% of their dependents
28. We have invested in a Gazex system to make the avalanche mitigation on Kachina less hazardous for our patrol team
29. Over 20 full-time, year-round positions have been created for Taos Ski Valley staff in 2019 – we have increased the number of FTYR fully benefited staff by 40% since 2014
30. Created an Inclusiveness statement and incorporated it into all of our recruiting materials
31. 46% of Taos Ski Valley staff identify as belonging to a minority race
32. Partnered with Zen for Business, a fellow B Corp™, to provide training and development for our leadership team
33. Various staff members have participated in the Leadership Journey program; sponsoring the development of local leaders
34. We have partnered with Ride Amigos to offer a Ride Share App for staff members, encouraging them to carpool to work as well as around town.
community
35. Staff have the option to donate their $10.00 recognition cards to the Taos Community Foundation and we match their contribution
36. A partnership has been established with the Division of Vocational Resources, the Taos High School, and the University of New Mexico to provide an apprenticeship to students with disabilities
37. Partnering with the University of New Mexico to create a culinary certificate program as an effort to help develop a stronger local workforce
38. Taos has partnered with B Corp™ vendors and suppliers and established strong relationships with vendors/suppliers from New Mexico or from underrepresented populations
- We are committed to working with vendors within a 200-mile radius or who are fellow B Corporations™
39. A growing partnership with Not Forgotten Outreach and the adaptive snowsports program
40. We became an Employer of National Service with AmeriCorps and Peace Corps, recognizing the unique skills of military service members, veterans & national service alumni.
41. Numerous local non-profit organizations have benefited from the contributions made by Taos Ski Valley's Donor Advised Fund through the Taos Community Foundation's grant program
- Over $1 million has been donated over the past 4 years
42. We have committed to a highly discounted children’s snowsports programs that supports local participation and a growth of the future of the snowsports industry. We also created a new initiative in 2019 called L.I.F.T. – Learning Initiative For Taos, a program that allows staff and guests to sponsor a underserved youth to be able to enjoy our snowsports programs.
43. We continue to maintain a strong relationship with the Taos Pueblo and recognize the importance of this amazing UNESCO World Heritage Site to the region
44. We actively work with New Mexico Workforce Connection to recruit local workforce through job fairs, rapid hire events and advertising efforts
45. We’ve tapped into the local culture and history by commissioning artists and artisans to provide furnishings and amenities for The Blake, The Blake Penthouses, and expanding our scope throughout The Blake Residences
- Sourced historical photography that aided in the renaissance of local knowledge and awareness of Taos history. This has supported our initiative to build upon our relationship between Taos Ski Valley and the Taos Pueblo
46. We created and hosted the B Inspired Day in February 2019 to educate the public on B Corps™. We also hosted the 2nd annual B Leadership Summit which helped form the "B Corp™ Climate Action Collective"
47. Sponsoring the Believe in New Mexico Day in conjunction with the local New Mexico B Corp™ community, the New Mexico Economic Development Department, and University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management to showcase responsible businesses in New Mexico
48. Every Fall, we host an annual Night of Philanthropy to benefit the Taos Community Foundation and allow our staff to give back through donations – Taos Ski Valley, Inc. matches all staff donations
49. At the end of the 2018-19 season we hosted a InterClub Ski Race that raised over $125,000 for the Taos Community Foundation
50. Our annual Boarding for Breast Cancer event raising money for breast cancer research and the Anita Salas Fund
51. We recruit with the women’s and men’s shelters in town to help develop a stronger local workforce
52. We work with our local Centinel Bank for our banking needs
53. We offer a robust friends & family discounted ticket program to our staff which directly impacts our local community by offering them the opportunity to experience Taos Ski Valley for free or for a steep discount
governance
54. Taos Ski Valley, Inc. has a commitment to grow better, not bigger
55. Our CEO, David Norden, signed the Camber Outdoors CEO Pledge, ensuring that Taos would strive to elevate an inclusive workplace where diversity of experience and people as a strategic business imperative will set our organization above the status quo
56. We have created and are implementing a purchasing policy that will hold ourselves and our partners accountable to more efficient and sustainable business practices
57. We signed the B Corp Declaration of Interdependence – found here: https://bcorporation.net/about-b-corps
58. Taos Ski Valley, Inc. signed on to support the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act; a bipartisan climate solution
59. We conducted a supplier survey to understand who we do business with and what their core values are. Currently, of the companies surveyed, 26% are owned by individuals who are minorities, women, veterans or from underrepresented populations and it is our goal to continue to grow that number!
60. We have amended our corporate by-laws to state that the Board of Directors will consider all stakeholders and not just shareholders in decision making
Environment
61. We continue to work with The Nature Conservancy & The Rio Grande Water Fund to help promote forest health and a clean watershed. Our trail crew works hard throughout the summer in order to promote forest health and a clean watershed that affects the entire community
62. We encourage staff members to participate in our “go-green pay-stub initiative” so that they receive electronic pay-stubs instead of printed ones
63. We have a commitment to clean up our waste stream and improve our Taos Verde recycling program
64. We've partnered with Fairware for our recruitment and sales promotional products to ensure fairtrade and humane practices
65. We use Stone Paper to create our resort maps, employment guides, and leadership notebooks
66. Our food dehydrator converted over 28,000 pounds of food waste into soil amendment last year
67. We utilize geo-thermal wells for heating & cooling The Blake
68. We created a program called hydrate locally, help globally – which aims to eliminate single-use plastic throughout the resort
69. We use the soil amendment from the food dehydrator to landscape our mountain
70. We’ve incorporated occupancy light sensor/timers in all our new & renovated office spaces to reduce consumption
71. We utilize local suppliers whenever possible. We’re proud of the local players we work with, including; Chemistry, Second Street Brewery, Tea.O.Graphy, Taos Bakes, Zekes, Randall’s Lumber, Safe House Distilling, Co., Beck & Bulow, and so many more.
72. Partnering with the Village of Taos Ski Valley on the river restoration to create a healthier habitat for fish, wildlife, and opportunity to enjoy the river
73. All-hands, all-lands prescribed burn - forest health collaboration with Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps and fire department.
74. Native Energy helped us calculate, reduce, and offset the carbon footprint of Taos Air to a net zero impact
75. We won the 2017 National Ski Area Association Golden Eagle Award for Environmental Excellence
76. We won the 2019 National Ski Area Association Golden Eagle Award for Innovation in Sustainability award for the food dehydrator program
77. We have worked with Spyder to help them reduce their packaging waste for our uniform program
78. Snowmaking operations - replaced three 200HP motors and one 400HP motor with new, high efficiency inverter duty motors
79. Taos has installed a state-of-the-art Sno.Matic system to promote safe, reliable, and efficient operation of the snowmaking system
80. We have created new diversion gates at the river intakes our our pump stations allowing better water flow and bypass gates to control natural water flow from the snowmaking uses of the river
81. Installed a variable frequency drive onto one of our existing 250 HP motors
82. We purchased a new PB 600 Polar Snowcat that uses 20-30% less fuel
83. Upgrading grooming fleet to all tier 4 diesel motors to make the fleet more fuel efficient
84. Leasing fuel/energy efficient shuttles for our staff and guest shuttle programs
85. Retrofitting our new & existing facilities with low-flow water fixtures , waterless urinals, and dual flush toilets with the goal of reducing our water consumption
86. We now have a fleet of 110 high efficient, low energy use, HKD impulse snowguns
87. We source local products for the Spa & Wellness Center
88. Housekeeping at The Blake has eliminated the use of small toiletries and using green cleaning products
89. We have invested in lift upgrades which are more energy efficient than our antiquated lifts
90. Our commitment to the NSAA climate challenge – participated since 2015
91. We have a strong partnership with Protect Our Winters and have contributed up to $5,000 to their initiatives, year-over-year
92. We purchased a Winter Stieger tuning machine that runs off less amps and has less disposables which reduces our waste and energy consumption (and also turns out an amazing tune for your skis/snowboard)
93. Silver LEED Certification for The Blake
94. We participate in “hard-to-recycle” programs such as recycling car batteries, printer ink cartridges, light bulbs, etc.
CUSTOMERS
95. Guests are able to opt into a $2.00 nightly donation during their stay at The Blake which will be donated to The Taos Community Foundation
96. Dog Pass for passholder pups where the contributions from the pass support the Taos Avalanche Rescue Dogs
97. We are incorporating Inclusive Bathroom Signage across the resort
98. Countless events and speaker series promoting community ties, outreach, etc.
99. We offer tours of The Blake to internal and external guests that honors our rich culture and history and helps connect The Blake & Taos Ski Valley to both the town of Taos and the Taos Pueblo
100. $50,000 donated from chair lift sales to Hurricane Harvey efforts
101. Installed Electric Vehicle chargers in The Blake and parking lot for our guests
AND WE CONTINUE TO DO MORE...
102. We purchased a portable solar power source for our on-mountain telecommunications
103. We are winners of the 2016 National Ski Area Associations Sustainable Slopes High-Efficiency Snowmaking grant
- We were awarded 5 low-energy, high-efficiency snowmaking guns to help us reduce our energy use
- We expanded our fleet of high efficiency, low energy snowmaking guns with the additional of 17 HKD SV10 Impulse towers & 5 HKD laser towers
104. We use water efficient appliances and water conscious landscaping for The Blake, reducing our water use by 20% over traditional methods
105. Between 2014-2016, we reduced our overall energy consumption by 10.9% which equals a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 340 metric tons of CO2. this can be attributed to the efficiencies in the snowmaking system
106. The dye lot required to properly color our uniform garments (thousands of pieces) will use 1/20th of the water due to new technology from Gortex – Gortex is a platinum member of P.O.W., aligning with our organizational values
107. Heating the Vehicle Maintenance Facility with our used oil
108. We are converting our lighting to LEDs wherever possible
109. Purchase energy efficient appliances that are Energy Star rated
110. We source B Corp™ products and local products for our Taos Sports retail store
111. We moved our 401K plan and our HSA to Fidelity to offer more financial education to our staff
112. We increased our insurance package offerings to include high and low deductible plans
113. We are proud that over half the volunteers for the Taos Ski Valley Fire Fighter & EMS Department is made up of Taos Ski Valley, Inc. staff
114. We improved our on-boarding paperwork to be inclusive of non-binary gender identification
115. We are proud of our In-kind donation program and ALL the organizations that are positively affected by it - $105,000 alone was donated in 2019 to schools and non-profits
