This piece will provide a conceptual overview of our proposed project, including who will be served, how the service will be delivered, the facilities and staff needed, and how the project will quickly become self-supporting. We welcome your consideration and ideas, and we look forward to your support.
The XYZ Resort will provide needed resources to enable motivated individuals and families to attain fully independent and rewarding economic and social lives. This primary purpose will be accomplished by enhancing the economic growth of the program's surrounding community through the operation of a business that offers quality recreational accommodations and services to a regional and, perhaps, national market. It is also hoped that this project will provide a model for similar self-help efforts throughout the country.
The XYZ Resort will serve any individual or family head who is determined to be in financial need and who would benefit from training and placement services leading to substantial gainful employment. Referrals will be accepted from a variety of sources including private service organizations, public welfare and rehabilitation agencies, church and community groups, friends, and relatives.
The project will assist complete family units. Children of both single parents and trainee couples will have access to free tutoring and educational services on an "as needed" basis. Younger children will be involved in a growth-promoting day care program. All family members will be able to participate in an active outdoor recreation program that will make full use of the resort's facilities. Family units will receive housing, meals, and medical insurance as a portion of the regular employee benefit package. In addition, work and leisure clothing as well as transportation services are to be available on an "as needed" basis throughout the period of residential training.
Operation of this full-service resort will provide training opportunities for a wide range of occupations. Most learning will occur under true production conditions. Work will be supplemented by classroom instruction obtained from area educational institutions and qualified individual instructors on an "as needed" purchase of service basis. Venues for instruction will be provided in skill areas such as desk operation and reception, records management, data entry, word processing, desktop publishing, bookkeeping, accounting, facilities maintenance, groundskeeping, power mechanics, cooking, baking, food service, housekeeping, laundry, activities direction, sports and conditioning instruction, day care instruction, bus driving, bartending, retail sales, human services practice, advertising, and promotion.
Training and work assignments will be primarily determined by the interests and abilities of those receiving services. However, the operational needs of the resort must also be considered. Placement activities will be undertaken only as trainees reach proficiency in a desired skill area. Contacts will be made through hotel and restaurant associations, labor unions, and possibly through regular guests of the establishment. Family needs will be weighed heavily when planning for permanent employment. Time will be taken to reach a skill level and identify potential openings that will provide sufficient means to independently support a family unit. For example, relocation for employment can be planned to be compatible with the cycles of the school year.
Each worker will accrue a relocation allowance. This will be made up of combined savings deducted each period from his or her regular pay and matched by an equal amount from the resort's not-for-profit foundation. This sum will be available for the move to a permanent job location as well as rent, deposits, and initial living expenses. Sufficient funds will have time to accumulate since the anticipated typical length of stay for on-the-job training and work adjustment will be at least six months and could approach a year.
Our priority will be the placement of workers who have attained a maximum level of skill in their chosen field. Carefully made placements will have the greatest chances of success and will lead to the building of a lasting referral network. Even with this slow, carefully paced approach to the turnover of trainees, the operation can be expected to train and relocate from 100 to 150 people and their families annually.
During the period of training, the resort and the surrounding community will become a temporary home for trainees and members of their families. A resort staff member will serve as liaison with the local school district to facilitate the prompt enrollment of all children. This worker will provide any needed help to parents as they work to communicate and cooperate with teachers and other school professionals. The liaison will assist with transportation arrangements, school supplies, and necessary clothing, as well as supplemental tutoring as circumstances dictate. This same worker will be able to provide families with other useful information about and introduction to community resources such as area churches, libraries, medical facilities, and off-resort recreational activities.
Within four years of its opening, the resort and training center will become self-supporting. By the fifth year of operation, the resort business can be counted on to produce revenue for the not-for- profit XYZ Resort Foundation that will totally own and operate it. Revenue will be generated by accomodating between 150 and 200 guests at any one time in a full-quality, full-service resort and recreation center. In addition to room, meals, and beverages, guests will pay for and participate in summer sports such as swimming, fishing, sailing, boating, canoeing, tennis, volleyball, softball, and golf. In the winter season, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, and skating will be major activities along with conferences, retreats, and promotional winter festivals. A schedule of activities such as dances, camp fires, and live entertainment acts will run year-round. Added revenue will be produced by the resort's golf and tennis pro-shops as well as by selling activewear, gifts, and souvenirs.
Given active promotion and provision of quality service, a strong return and referral trade will build quickly. This trade will allow the facility to run at or near capacity, reduce the overhead cost of serving each guest, enable the operation to pay for itself, and amortize any necessary start-up debts. Within five years, the operation will be positioned to finance added capital improvements at this first location and, possibly, the establishment of sister facilities in other parts of the country.
The number of permanent full-time employees needed to operate the resort and training center will be kept at a minimum. This will be possible because Mr. John D. (résumé available) will function as a full-time operator and manager. A relatively flat organizational structure will be quite feasible. A great emphasis will be placed on identifying and hiring extremely qualified first-line supervisors. These will be the people who will provide the instruction, example, and evaluation to trainees. It will be possible to sustain quality service operations in most departments based on the skills of its head and normally one additional permanent lead worker. Additional shift supervisors will be necessary in the larger seven-day-a-week, around-the-clock work units, such as kitchen, dining room, and housekeeping. Also, some people with specialized human services skills will be recruited to fill positions such as the education- and community-liaison worker and the placement coordinator. Other unusually skilled people will be sought to fill key direct guest-service positions such as the executive chef, golf and tennis pros, and a ski instructor. The vast majority of day-to-day guest services will be performed by trainees.
The XYZ Resort concept can be effectively implemented wherever land and natural recreational resources are available for year-around activity. The need to be met is present in any part of the country. Currently, three locations in Northern Wisconsin are being evaluated. Possibilities range from a 650-acre parcel of currently unimproved, but potentially prime recreational land to a 48-acre site that already offers some resort facilities that could be renovated as a first step in the project's development. Substantial improvement will be needed at these or any other likely sites.
To be fully operational, the resort will need a multipurpose dining, entertainment, and dance area; smaller meeting, conference, and lounging rooms; areas for the display and sale of gifts, souvenirs, activeware, and sporting equipment; approximately 40 double-unit cabins; and independent family and single living areas and shared kitchens for staff. Additional facilities necessary to the resort's business success will include a marina, hiking and sky paths, tennis and volleyball courts, a golf facility, sauna, swimming pool, exercise facility, and weight room. Construction could be completed, permanent staff hired and oriented, trainees on-board, and guests on their way within one year after site acquisition. Total costs to this point could reach approximately $2,500,000 to be raised by a mix of capital loans and grants.
At present, several alternative legal and financial structures for the training center and its supporting business are being investigated and considered. The form that is ultimately selected will be determined by its appropriateness to the objectives embodied by the XYZ Resort concept. These include maintenance of a not-for-profit status, provision of adequate incentives to investors, creation of an environment for effective implementation of the training program, and a sound foundation for the long- term business success of the project.
In addition to capital loans and grants, some funding will be needed for additional start-up and operating costs. These include wages, fringe benefits, and adjustment allowances for trainees; compensation for approximately 20 permanent staff; food, beverage, and entertainment expenses; start-up sporting equipment and activewear inventories; insurance, legal, and other professional fees; and advertising and promotion.
To assure a smooth opening and positive long-term guest relations, a supplemental operating loan or grant of approximately $700,000 will be needed for the first year, $500,000 for the second, and only $100,000 in the third. By the fourth year, the business and training center will have reached full self-sufficiency. From that point on, revenue will be accruing to the not-for-profit corporation. This entity will still continue seeking cash, in-kind, and time contributions in order to encourage participation of the community and alumni as well as to provide maximum support to its trainees and their families.
This overview is intended only as a conceptual presentation. The ideas included can be elaborated more fully. They can always be improved and refined as more information and feed-back is obtained. For that reason, all ideas and comments are both requested and welcomed.