Ski Maine chief to retire 'with a mission,' helping run family orchard business
Courtesy / Greg Sweetser
"Skiing is the epitome of family time," said Greg Sweetser, right, who will retire as executive director of Ski Maine in May 2020. He is shown here with his youngest son, Eben, at Sunday River.
The Ski Maine Association, a nonprofit trade group representing 16 alpine ski areas and 21 Nordic ski centers statewide, is seeking a new executive director to succeed Greg Sweetser when he retires next May.
Sweetser, who is leaving his post at the Portland-based group after 24 years, said he can now give greater attention to helping run Sweetser's Apple Barrel and Orchards, a fifth-generation family farm in Cumberland Center with 1,000 trees and 53 apple varieties.
"I'm lucky I've been able to work my entire life in the ski business, with an apple orchard on the side as a nice filler," told Mainebiz in a phone interview. He now looks forward to spending the next 20 years in the apple business, as his father did after retiring from the paper industry.
Reflecting on his time at Ski Maine, Sweetser noted that while it initially focused only on skiing, the group has broadened its scope to other activities such as snowboarding, snowshoeing and Nordic skate skiing, which is popular with runners and bicyclists.
He said in the 1990s, the organization was trying to get people who spent winter in Maine to ski. "Now our whole effort is steering them not just to skiing, but to outdoor recreation," he said.
Lucky past, mission-driving future
He said he considers himself lucky to have worked in the industry so long, and found it gratifying to have co-founded WinterKids, a nonprofit group dedicated to increasing outdoor physical activity in children and families in winter.
Looking at the industry's future, Sweetser said he's heartened by Gov. Janet Mills's creation of an Office of Outdoor Recreation, and a recent national study about the sector's growing impact on the state's economy.
"We've always known that," he said, "but it's nice to have some data and third-party confirmation of the value of our industry. Sometimes it's hard to quantify the health benefits of being fit."
As Ski Maine launches a national search for his successor, Sweetser had this advice for the person who ends up in the job: "We're a mix of advocacy on public relations, so this person is going to have some political savvy and communication skills."
He added: "You have to love to talk if you want to be in this job ... and love the fact that winter is Maine's longest season."
Next year, when he starts a new life chapter, Sweetser looks forward to more family time, saying "the whole equation of life has changed" after losing his wife to cancer in 2016.
He also considers it important to continue the family business amid a dwindling number of orchards and farms in the state.
"It's a good example of how to retire with a mission," he said.
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