Jay Kemmerer

Jay Kemmerer
Born John L. Kemmerer, III
July 15, 1947
Alma mater University of Denver
Title

Chairman of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

Chairman of Kemmerer Resources Corp.
Board member of

The Kemmerer Family Foundation

U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation

Friends of Hearts for Honduras Foundation (emeritus)

Harding Land Trust (emeritus)

John L. Kemmerer, III (born July 15, 1947), known as Jay Kemmerer, is an American businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He acquired the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village, Wyoming for his family in 1992, and has been its Chairman ever since. In 1997, he acquired the CM Ranch in Dubois, Wyoming. His family connections to the State of Wyoming stem from the mining interests of his great-grandfather Mahlon S. Kemmerer in the 1890s, for whom the city of Kemmerer, Wyoming was named.[1]

Early life and education

The son of John L. Kemmerer, Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Halbach, Kemmerer was raised in Short Hills, New Jersey. His father was Chairman of the Kemmerer Coal Company,[2] which was established by Mahlon S. Kemmerer and Patrick J. Quealy in 1897.[3] Diamondville, Wyoming was the site of their first mining operation, and was the “company town,” while the City of Kemmerer was founded as the “independent town” located south of the mines. Kemmerer is also notable as the location of the first J. C. Penney store, and the home of the Fossil Butte National Monument. At its height, the Kemmerer Coal Company had the largest open pit coal mine in the United States,[4] and served three local power generating plants of Utah Power & Light.

Kemmerer graduated from Salisbury School in Salisbury, Connecticut in 1966, where he was awarded varsity letters in football, ice hockey, and baseball. He then attended Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, and earned a Bachelor of Science of Business Administration - Finance from the University of Denver in 1970.[5]

Career

Kemmerer worked for Chemical Bank in New York from 1974 – 1977 before joining his father at The Kemmerer Corporation, and leading the sale of the Kemmerer Coal Company to Gulf Oil in 1981.[6] Following this divestiture, he became President of the family’s asset management company, Kemmerer Resources Corp., located in Chatham, New Jersey.[7]

He served on the Board of Directors of the First Wyoming Bank from 1983 – 1989, until its sale to Key Bank. At that time the Kemmerer family was its largest stockholder. Kemmerer chaired the Investment Committee.

In 1986, Kemmerer purchased the Seven-Up Bottling Company, a major soft drink bottler and distributor in the greater Chicago area, which then became known as Kemmerer Bottling Group, Inc., and was the third-largest bottler of 7-Up in the country.[8] He was later elected to the Board of the National Soft Drink Association from 1988 – 1992.

Jay Kemmerer, along with his sisters Connie Kemmerer and Betty Gray, purchased the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in 1992 from Paul McCollister.[9] It remains one of the last premier family-owned ski resorts in America.[10] Improvements to the resort under Kemmerer family ownership have totaled over $135,000,000, including the addition of the Bridger Gondola in 1997, the Rendezvous Restaurant complex at 9,100 ft. in 2007, and construction of the new high-speed Aerial Tram in 2008.[11][12][13]

In 1997, Kemmerer purchased the CM Ranch in Dubois, Wyoming with his sisters, which the Kemmerer family visited in the 1950s. Founded in 1927, the CM is one of the oldest continually-operating guest ranches in the U.S.[14] Total improvements to plumbing, electrical, flooring and roofs have been made to most structures, while maintaining its status on the National Register of Historic Places.

Kemmerer and his family also own the master-planned golf community of Comanche Trace in Kerrville, Texas,[15] and the Monte Sereno community in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[15]

Philanthropy

Kemmerer and his father established The Kemmerer Family Foundation in 2000. As of 2014, the Foundation has awarded over $30,000,000 in grants, and has assets of over $47,000,000. Its mission is to give back to communities and organizations with which family members are involved.

The Kemmerer family maintains an undergraduate scholarship endowment at the University of Wyoming, which awards a full scholarship each year to a top graduating student from Kemmerer High School and Dubois High School.[16] Kemmerer also established a Graduate Fellowship at the University of Wyoming’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources in 2014.[17]

In 1990, Kemmerer established the Harding Land Trust, a land preservation organization in Harding Township, New Jersey, with guidance from Sally Dudley and Clint Curtis, and ran the organization from his office. He remains a Trustee Emeritus.[18]

Kemmerer has also been the primary benefactor of Friends of Hearts for Honduras Foundation. This organization was established by members of the Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church to assist the church school that reaches over 200 of the poorest children in La Entrada, Honduras.

He has served on the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation since 1998.[19]

Personal life

Kemmerer has three daughters, a step-daughter, and four grandchildren. He is an avid fly fisherman, golfer, skier, biker, and outdoor enthusiast. He and his wife, Karen Varnas, were married in 2009 in the Jackson Hole Tram at the top of Rendezvous Mountain.[20] In addition to their primary residence in Jackson, the Kemmerers maintain homes in Madison, New Jersey, and Vero Beach, Florida.

References

  1. ↑ City of Kemmerer website, retrieved June 3, 2015. http://www.kemmerer.org/
  2. ↑ "Paid Death Notices: John L. Kemmerer, Jr.", New York Times, November 17, 2002
  3. ↑ Barrett, Glen. Kemmerer Wyoming: The Founding of an Independent Coal Town, 1897 – 1902. Quealy Services, Inc., 1972.
  4. ↑ Union Pacific: Kemmerer Mine, retrieved June 5, 2015.
  5. ↑ University of Denver, "Jerry Blann and Jay Kemmerer", retrieved June 3, 2015.
  6. ↑ Martin, Douglas. "Two major oil concerns to widen coal holdings." New York Times, March 17, 1981.
  7. ↑ "Benefactor leaving town he loves after three decades", New Jersey Hills Media Group, April 27, 2007.
  8. ↑ De Guzman, Charina. "Snapple parent snaps up Kemmerer Bottling", Crain's Chicago Business, March 5, 1994.
  9. ↑ Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Owners, retrieved June 3, 2015.
  10. ↑ Pitcher, Don. "Moon Handbooks: Yellowstone & Grand Teton, Including Jackson Hole." Avalon Travel, 2013.
  11. ↑ Pope, Kristen. "Investing in Wyoming: Jay Kemmerer honors family tradition at JHMR." JH Style Magazine, Winter/Spring 2013-14, page 51.
  12. ↑ Long, Barbara. "Tramformation: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort completes its main tram replacement." ENR Mountain States, March 19, 2010.
  13. ↑ Garber, Phil. "Coal Mines Lead to Ski Resort for Iconic Harding Family." Observer Tribune, Harding, N.J., January 17, 2014.
  14. ↑ Dubois Museum, Charlie Moore Collection, retrieved June 3, 2015.
  15. 1 2 Comanche Trace, retrieved January 19, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Donor Stories: Supporting Wyoming Students." University of Wyoming Foundation, retrieved June 3, 2015.
  17. ↑ "UW Student Jonathan Bowler Receives First Kemmerer Graduate Fellowship." University of Wyoming, October 1, 2014.
  18. ↑ Harding Land Trust, retrieved June 3, 2015.
  19. ↑ USSA Foundation Board of Trustees, retrieved June 3, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Karen Varnas is married to John 'Jay' Kemmerer III." Chatham Courier, September 23, 2009.
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