Two ORDA general managers will remain in their positions, while also taking on additional responsibilities. Chadd Cassidy, the general manager of the Olympic Center, will be the new vice president of legacy venues operations. Bruce Transue, the general manager of Belleayre Mountain in Highmount, will become the vice president of Alpine venues operations.

Meanwhile, Rebecca Dayton, who was previously the general manager of the Olympic Sports Complex at Mount Van Hoevenberg and the Olympic Jumping Complex, will become the vice president of events and sport programs management.

Walden said these positions made sense because the six venues fall into two main categories that share a lot of similarities. The legacy venues are the Olympic Center, Olympic Jumping Complex and the Mount Van Hoevenberg Sliding Center. The Alpine venues include Whiteface Mountain, Gore Mountain and Bellaeyre Mountain.

“(We’re) trying to not add a whole lot of additional layers,” Walden said, “but utilize the people that we have who have some of the strengths that that we need across the organization.”

Rebecca Dayton
(Provided photo — Olympic Regional Development Authority)

During her first year, she was focused on learning the ropes within the organization. Since their work evolves through each season, she felt she had to experience a full year before making these kinds of shifts. Although ORDA traditionally had a vice president, there hasn’t been one since she was hired.

“It was a great opportunity for me to kind of dive in a little bit more into the weeds of the organization, in the absence of having a vice president of operations,” Walden said. “I got more intimately involved in the venues and their operations, just trying to fill that void.”

–

Maximizing strengths

–

Bruce Transue at the Grand Opening of New Lift 7 at Belleayre Mountain.
(Provided photo — Olympic Regional Development Authority)

Cassidy joined ORDA in 2022 as the general manager of the Olympic Center, bringing with him a background in coaching and sports management. He previously coached the AHC’s Rochester Americans, the Omaha Lancers and the Northwood School’s boys hockey team.

Walden said she has been pleased with the work that Cassidy has done at the Olympic Center and hopes he can bring some of the strategies he used at the Olympic Center to the other legacy venues. In particular, Walden said guest service and efficient structures are key.

“It’s not possible for us to have the exact same structure for each of the venues, because they are unique,” Walden said. “(Cassidy) is a coach, and he brings almost that coaching aspect to his leadership role, and it that helps him to efficiently organize teams.”

Cassidy agreed that he draws from his coaching background every day, figuring out ways to let people play to their strengths and finding ways to support them. He said he is excited to work with the teams of people at both the jumping complex and at Mount Van Hoevenberg.

“In its simplest form, our job is to create really good customer experience and guest experience,” Cassidy said, “so that when they come to visit our venues, they leave Lake Placid and they brag about what a great time they had.”

Similarly, Transue, who has been working in the ski industry since the late 1970s and joined ORDA in 2018 as the general manager of Belleayre Mountain, will apply lessons he has learned to the other Alpine venues. Transue said the industry is constantly changing, and organizations have to be proactive to keep customers happy.

“You always have to show the people that you’re moving forward with them,” he said.

Transue has spent time up North, lending a hand at Whiteface. He came up here in March to mostly observe operations, and put a report together for Walden.

His main goals for all the Alpine venues are prioritizing guest services and efficiency. He wants to find ways to use their facilities in as many seasons as possible. When it comes to guest services, he said that small things make a big difference, like clean facilities and friendly faces.

“Everybody can smile, everybody can give the guests a great experience,” Transue said. “It doesn’t cost us anything.”

–

Refining goals for the future

–

In addition to changes at the highest level of leadership, Walden has a few other key priorities that are closely tied to Dayton’s work with sports and events in making the best use of the ORDA facilities.

This is especially pertinent given the large improvements that have been made at several of the venues with state funding and planned projects like the Mount Van Hoevenberg improvements.

Dayton’s vice president position also fills the gap of a director of sport role that has essentially been vacant. Much of her role will involve developing plans for each of the sports to make sure that ORDA is making the best use of their venues and sticking to events that support their mission. Dayton has been involved with sports and events throughout her 25 years with ORDA.

“It’s easy to look an event and go, ‘Oh that sounds fun,’” Dayton said. “How we determine what events make sense for a particular sport is a process of discussion and decision making.”

This will mean not only events for professional-level athletes, but also opportunities for all ages and levels. Dayton said these plans will involve a long process with many discussions. They hope to meet the needs of the many governing bodies for various sports while also taking advantage of the opportunities provided by each collaboration.

Walden said ORDA is inundated with organizations interested in their facilities, but they need to “pick and choose” to make sure the events fit the mission and benefit the community, including by not over-taxing ORDA staff.

“How does Lake Placid have a positive impact on people’s lives on a daily basis?” Dayton said. “That’s kind of the core mission and how we get there is going to be a lot of work and a lot of conversation. But it is definitely a view to all levels (of sport).”

Another key goal for the future is developing a more defined, organization-wide sustainability approach, Walden said. The organization is preparing a sustainability statement for its December board meeting and will begin developing specific plans and action steps next year.