Sundance, UTAH – June 12, 2024 – The mountains have the ability to heal, says Bill Jensen, principal and investor with Storyteller, owner of Sundance Mountain Resort, and on Wednesday morning that healing process commenced with the groundbreaking for a new, 63-room, ADA-accessible inn at the resort’s base village to serve wounded veterans and their families. 

Jensen also unveiled the name of the non-profit organization that Sundance will serve: Mountain Veterans Program (MVP). The word ‘mountain,’ said Jensen, “is the most meaningful part of this program.”

“Mountains have a special place for mankind,” he explained, further speaking to the magic or special nature of Sundance. “To create this inn in this mountain setting, Mountain Veterans Program is a commitment to provide a national community of wounded and injured veterans and their families, including Utah veterans and National Guard members, a variety of programming rooted in the mountains to build confidence and reinforce purposeful lives.”

About 50 people attended the ceremony, including representatives from the project’s general contractor, R&O Construction, and project architect, BSA Architects.

Meeting its mission to strengthen, support and facilitate Utah’s and the country’s military members, a new Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) project area at Sundance Mountain Resort was created late last year.

MIDA is facilitating a collaborative partnership with Utah County and Storyteller Canyon Property Owner, LP, (Storyteller) and its affiliates.  MIDA’s primary role is helping finance the inn at the resort base village with its bonding capability and a Public Infrastructure District (PID). The inn will serve the year-round MVP, including participants and their families, as well as non-military recreational guests.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled that Sundance Mountain Resort, MIDA and Utah County have created a significant opportunity to assist our wounded and injured veteran community with their physical and emotional recovery year-round,” said Gary Harter, retired Army, an avid Sundance skier, a MIDA board member and executive director of the Utah Department of Veterans & Military Affairs. “We had a MIDA board meeting yesterday where staff presented a five-year strategic plan. A core principle of that plan is first, to do things that matter to the military and their families – those that wear or wore the cloth.”

Harter said there are currently about 20,000 service members in Utah, and 150,000 veterans who call Utah home.

“I often ask (veterans), ‘Why Utah?’ Many point to that, behind me. The mountains and the opportunities they afford for recreation and healing,” said Harter.

Utah County Administrator Ezra Nair, who is also serving on the Sundance PID board, remarked on the significance of tax increment financing to re-invest revenues from new development growth into meaningful projects. The collaboration and partnership among MIDA, Utah County, the state and Sundance “solves problems together,” he said.

“Most importantly, I want to thank the veterans this project will serve,” said Nair.

All costs to participating veterans and their families are covered, including transportation, lodging, meals and activities. Mountain Veterans will receive participant referrals from the Park City-based National Ability Center, and four U.S. military hospitals: Salt Lake City VA Medical Center, Walter Reed National Military Center, Brooke Army Medical Center, and Balboa Naval Medical Center, as well as direct connections to nearly 4,000 wounded veterans and their families.

Speaking to the tens of thousands who were injured in service to our country, Jensen added that supporting emotional healing is most important: “We have a lifetime of obligation to these veterans.”

-###-