Spirit Mountain Task Force
In June of 2020, Mayor Emily Larson in partnership with Spirit Mountain created a task force to create a set of recommendations intended to help Spirit Mountain Recreation Area achieve financial stability, and a sustainable plan to pay for the repair and replacement of deteriorated infrastructure. In July of 2020, Mayor Larson appointed sixteen members of the Duluth community to the task force. The task force was co-chaired by City Councilor Arik Forsman and Councilor Janet Kennedy, and facilitated by Ann Glumac.
On March 9, the task force recommendations and economic impact report was shared with City Council. After years of not knowing the economic impact that Spirit has on the Duluth community, the SE Group who was contracted to help create the report shared that Spirit has a $22.4 million annual impact on Duluth. Additionally, the SE Group found that for every tourism tax dollar allocated to Spirit, that one dollar had a $18.72 return.
Mayor Larson praised the members of the Task Force including the co-chairs, and Ann Glumac for their work on the report. The Mayor and City staff will be reviewing the recommendations, and announcing next steps in the weeks to come.
View the Spirit Mountain Task Force report. Please note that the SE Group’s report including the economic impact can be found in the appendix of the report.