Bear Valley Cooperative pitches $6.5M Ambition 2028 project to Alpine County; board agrees to allocate staff time for due diligence

Peter Duncan, president of the Bear Valley Mountain Cooperative, and Aaron Johnson, general manager of Bear Valley Venture Company, presented the Ambition 2028 concept to the Board: a roughly $6.5 million, two-year project with a 6,000-square-foot footprint combining retail, a commercial kitchen, public restrooms, EV charging and second-floor workforce housing expected to yield 16–18 employee beds and 15–20 permanent new jobs.

Duncan said the co-op structure and membership base support the plan but that the project requires additional public funding or advantageous financing to bridge a local cost premium at 7,000 feet elevation. "It's about a $6,500,000 project," Duncan said. Economic development staff (JT Chevalier and JT Shwai) told the Board they would research grant eligibility, tribal partnerships and other funding streams. The Board and staff expressed general support and reached consensus to allocate limited staff time to pursue due diligence and explore public funding and partnership options; supervisors emphasized the need to ensure staff capacity and to protect resources already committed to other county projects.