MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — It was a date worth celebrating at Great Wolf Lodge Pocono Mountains Thursday night as the company unveiled its newest $125 million expansion, the Woodland Villas.
"The entire project we've been doing for the last 18 months finally comes to an end," said Great Wolf Lodge General Manager Bill Colavito.
Colavito says with this new addition, the resort's staff will exceed 1,000 workers, a number he says has the resort thinking about adding workforce housing for seasonal and full-time employees.
"If we do that, we're looking at, potentially also from an educational standpoint, looking at J1 students that are students from abroad that will come here and learn and grow with us. And sometimes we just have employees that when we move around throughout our company, they have somewhere to stay, so that's just a thought," said Colavito.
"If employers are going to continue to develop industries here or continue expanding existing industries, they have to be assured that there's going to be a workforce, not only here for the short term, but for the long term," said Chris Barrett, Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau president and CEO.
Barrett says workforce housing is one of the biggest concerns facing the hospitality and tourism industry in the Poconos, which employs more than 35,000 workers.
"We do need affordable housing, but we also need the workforce housing as well. What's the incentive to get folks to keep roots within our area of northeastern Pennsylvania to have a family and to have successful generations? So that's kind of what we're looking at right now," said Barrett.
If Great Wolf Lodge and other resorts around the area implement long-term workforce housing, Barrett says it will make the Poconos a permanent place people want to stay.
"We are hopeful that this will help us so that these $125 million investments within our communities continue."
Great Wolf Lodge, Pocono Mountains, does have all the permits required to start building workforce housing.
Right now, the company does not have a timeline for when that work will be happening.
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