{"id":2535,"date":"2022-02-28T19:03:31","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T00:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/?p=2535"},"modified":"2022-02-28T19:03:31","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T00:03:31","slug":"people-planet-profit-austrian-hospitality-enables-sustainability-in-vermonts-green-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/2022\/02\/28\/people-planet-profit-austrian-hospitality-enables-sustainability-in-vermonts-green-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"People, Planet, Profit: Austrian Hospitality Enables Sustainability in Vermont\u2019s Green Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written By:
Riley Nelson ’22
Contributing Writer
Connect with Riley on LinkedIn<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article from the Graduate Family Business Sustainability Club focuses on the von Trapp family and the Trapp Family Lodge. Four current SI-MBA students traveled to Stowe, Vermont and spoke with Kristina von Trapp and Walter Frame about the family business and the importance of sustainability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Etched into Vermont\u2019s horizon, the Green Mountains lure those far and wide with their humble magic. For the von Trapp family, they provided a new home while evoking reminiscent feelings of their Austrian past. Take a journey to the hills of Stowe, Vermont, and you\u2019ll discover how the Trapp Family Lodge<\/a> seamlessly blends Austrian hospitality with values rooted in creating a sustainable future\u2014or as the family says, \u201cA Little of Austria\u2026a Lot of Vermont\u00ae!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1950 Maria von Trapp created what became a 2,500-acre hospitality sanctuary. Maria\u2019s son Johannes is now president and, at 82, remains highly involved in the lodge\u2019s day-to-day operations. Johannes lives on the property with his wife, Lynne. Their two children, Kristina and Sam, each built homes for their families down the road from where they grew up and are co-owners and operators of the family business, along with Kristina\u2019s husband, Walter Frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image courtesy of: Allyson Rigutto, SI-MBA ’22<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Trapp Family Lodge recently celebrated 70 years of business, with sustainability at its core from the start. Protecting and caring for the land is both a fundamental value and essential business practice for the family. As a founding member, Johannes set aside roughly 1,500 of the family\u2019s 2,500 acres for conservation under the Stowe Land Trust<\/a>. Guests are encouraged to explore the property\u2019s 60 miles of ski, bike, and hiking trails and contribute to conservation with a $1-per-night trust donation built into each reservation. The land also supports a maple sugaring operation and rotating timber harvests to create a healthy forest and provide wood to heat the lodge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johannes defines sustainability as, \u201cWorking off the land, getting what you could from close by, and reusing everything you could.\u201d Ingredients sourced directly from the property create a farm-to-table experience for guests. In addition to fresh produce, the family raises numerous animals including layer-egg chickens, pigs, cows, and sheep. Longstanding composting practices are intended to both reduce inputs into local dumps and enrich soil for more abundant crops and livestock. The von Trapp Brewing<\/a> launch in 2010 was an important test of sustainable expansion. Today, von Trapp beer is sold in 10 states, and the byproducts of the beer-making process are spread across the acreage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An aerial view of the Trapp Family Lodge property (Photo courtesy of Trapp Family Lodge)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the von Trapps, sustainability extends beyond respecting the planet. The family believes in \u201cGem\u00fctlichkeit,\u201d the German term meaning cozy, unpretentious, and professional hospitality. This value of care is extended to both guests and the community. The von Trapps engage in various philanthropic initiatives in the greater Stowe area, including afterschool fitness and recreation programs. With approximately 300 employees on payroll today, the von Trapps understand that supporting peoples\u2019 livelihoods is an integral part of success. Providing employees with stable, well-paying, and purpose-driven jobs is key to the business\u2019s resilience and growth during challenging times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the traditional bottom line, embracing all facets of sustainability enabled the Trapp Family Lodge to have its most profitable year to date, despite a global pandemic. The von Trapp family is a pillar of success in the greater Vermont community because they keep people and planet at their core, showcasing what it truly means to be a sustainable family business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kristina von Trapp accepting the 2019 Multi-Gen Family Enterprise award at the Grossman School of Business\u2019s Family Business Awards<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written By:Riley Nelson ’22Contributing WriterConnect with Riley on LinkedIn This article from the Graduate Family Business Sustainability Club focuses on the von Trapp family and the Trapp Family Lodge. Four current SI-MBA students traveled to Stowe, Vermont and spoke with Kristina von Trapp and Walter Frame about the family business and the importance of sustainability. … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “People, Planet, Profit: Austrian Hospitality Enables Sustainability in Vermont\u2019s Green Mountains”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8b9n0-ET","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2535"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2540,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535\/revisions\/2540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/si-mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}