CU - Leeds Enlists MBA Talent to Hone Sustainable Solutions, Ski Turns at Vail

Business Wire, Feb 20, 2009

BOULDER, Colo. -- The Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder has partnered with Vail Resorts to host the eighth annual Leeds Net Impact Case Competition Feb. 20-21.

Since 2002, the Leeds Net Impact competition has hosted rising business leaders from MBA programs from around the nation to help find innovative solutions to corporate sustainability issues.

This year, the participants of the Leeds' Net Impact challenge will help Vail Resorts, Inc. define its environmental initiative. Vail Resorts, the leading mountain resort operator in the United States, says it is "continually looking at new ideas that will foster a culture of sustainability in the communities where the company operates, as well as with every employee."

"With Vail, we're working on a real issue--for a locally-based company that wants help aligning their strategic values with sustainable business practices," said Michael Joseph, President of the Net Impact chapter at the Leeds School of Business, and a second-year MBA student. "We've also created potentially one of the preeminent sustainable-driven competitions in the country, and made skiing a part of it."

Semifinalists from around the country will celebrate the culmination of the competition with a day of skiing and snowboarding on the slopes of Vail, Colorado.

Eighty-five teams of MBA students analyzed a key sustainability challenge provided by an executive management team at Vail Resorts; 20 of those teams have been invited to present their recommendations to a panel of experts, including Vail CEO Robert Katz, in the semifinal round at the historic Hotel Boulderado on Feb. 20. Five teams will proceed to the finals on Feb. 21, with the top three teams receiving cash prizes totaling $10,000. The team offering the most innovative and effective resolution will present directly to Vail Resorts management.

Finalist presentations begin Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m. in Room 110 of the Koelbel Building at CU's Leeds School of Business in Boulder. Each of the five teams proceeding to the final round will have 30 minutes to present. Members of the media are invited to attend.

A cocktail reception in honor of all competitors will be held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Catacombs, next to the Hotel Boulderado. A dinner for all semifinalists will commence at 7:00 p.m., with the final awards presentation at 7:45 p.m. Saturday evening.

Participants in the competition are affiliated with Net Impact, an international MBA nonprofit association committed to creating a community of business leaders who advance practices of corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, nonprofit management, international development, and environmental sustainability.

"At Leeds, Net Impact is a extraordinary think tank where people of all motivations come together under the common goal of a sustainable future," said Lindsay Holden, a Net Impact member and first-year MBA student at CU's Leeds School of Business. "Alone you can make a difference, but together we are influential."

The MBA program at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business has been recognized as a leader in social and environmental stewardship, by the Aspen Institute, Entrepreneur Magazine, and the Princeton Review.

Vail Resorts, Inc., is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The company's subsidiaries operate the properties of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone mountain resorts in Colorado; the Heavenly Ski Resort near the Lake Tahoe area in California and Nevada; and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

The company's Vail resort property has committed to 100 percent renewable energy offsets and has the largest on-mountain recycling program in the ski industry in North America. Vail Resorts was the first in its industry to announce a comprehensive natural and organic food initiative called Appetite for Life and a Good Food partnership with two other sustainable Colorado companies.

For all media inquiries related to the Leeds Net Impact Case Competition, please contact Annie Pinkert, anne.pinkert@Colorado.edu; 303.638.1229. http://nicomp.colorado.edu/NICC_2009/Home.html