Jay Peak bombshell

[VTKilarney]

Here is the market analysis for AnC Bio VT that Stenger has submitted to the state:
http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/vpr/files/201503/jay-peak-independent-report-vpr-20150324.pdf

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion regarding AnC Bio and AnC Bio VT. The Korean company appears to have had substantial financial problems. And all of the sudden it appears that it is not AnC Bio that is actually coming to the Northeast Kingdom, but rather a separate company, AnC Bio VT, that has merely licensed intellectual property from Korea's AnC Bio. But, IIRC, this appears to be a change from the original proposal.

Anne Galloway, from VT Digger, hinted that there is going to be a follow up article about this in the comments section of the most recent article.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Here is the market analysis for AnC Bio VT that Stenger has submitted to the state:

A ski resort partnering with a high-beta exploratory pre-clinical research facility with a shady and troubled financial past, whose products aren't even FDA approved and have a sky high hurdle for said approval, in a part of the country where people associated with that work do not live, nor generally have any interest in living.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[BenedictGomez]

Speaking of Jay Peak bombshell... On Saturday I noticed they removed all the SkiKey racks.

Anyone know WTH they did that? The SkiKey racks were there just last month so this was recent.

A) It stinks for those of us who lock our skis with SkiKey
B) Last Saturday there was FIVE (no, really, 5) total racks at the main lodge.

Predictably, people were just throwing their skis all over the snow, as for every person who has SkiKey and uses it, there are 4 others without SkiKey that use those racks as well. Anyway, the whole thing seemed odd, especially given the whole anti-theft safety push resorts have been on over the last X years. At any rate, I've never seen so many skis littering the landscape in my life, people had absolutely nowhere to put them.

 

[Cannonball]

Speaking of Jay Peak bombshell... On Saturday I noticed they removed all the SkiKey racks.

Anyone know WTH they did that? The SkiKey racks were there just last month so this was recent.

A) It stinks for those of us who lock our skis with SkiKey
B) Last Saturday there was FIVE (no, really, 5) total racks at the main lodge.

Predictably, people were just throwing their skis all over the snow, as for every person who has SkiKey and uses it, there are 4 others without SkiKey that use those racks as well. Anyway, the whole thing seemed odd, especially given the whole anti-theft safety push resorts have been on over the last X years. At any rate, I've never seen so many skis littering the landscape in my life, people had absolutely nowhere to put them.

Tough call. I really, REALLY like the idea of SkiKey as a responsible way to secure your skis and promote not leaving your crap all over the place for other people to trip on. On the other hand I've never understood why SkiKey wouldn't easily expand their market by simply making them wide enough to hold a snowboard. I definitely would have bought in. So I'm simultaneously dismayed and delighted by their demise.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Tough call. I really, REALLY like the idea of SkiKey as a responsible way to secure your skis and promote not leaving your crap all over the place for other people to trip on. On the other hand I've never understood why SkiKey wouldn't easily expand their market by simply making them wide enough to hold a snowboard. I definitely would have bought in. So I'm simultaneously dismayed and delighted by their demise.

You must not be very observant.

SkiKey racks have been able to lock snowboards for years now. I ski many areas, and see them all over.

It's a fantastic product, and I will contact Jay about this, if for no other reason than to decifer WTH they're thinking.

http://usa.skikey.com/

 

[deadheadskier]

Looks like a good product. Only reason I have not bought in is that they are not available everywhere I ski and I already have a serviceable cable lock.

 

[VTKilarney]

SkiKey is a great product. My problem is similar - my home mountain doesn't use it.

Doesn't SkiKey provide the racks free of charge? The profit is in selling the keys, so you would think that they would not charge for the racks.

 

[deadheadskier]

What is the benefit for buying a ski key lock?

Size? Cost?

Both would need to be pretty compelling. I believe I paid $12 for my cable lock and it's smaller than a cell phone.

 

[Jcb890]

Tough call. I really, REALLY like the idea of SkiKey as a responsible way to secure your skis and promote not leaving your crap all over the place for other people to trip on. On the other hand I've never understood why SkiKey wouldn't easily expand their market by simply making them wide enough to hold a snowboard. I definitely would have bought in. So I'm simultaneously dismayed and delighted by their demise.

I have used the SkiKey rack multiple times while at Mount Snow. I have my own cable-style lock that I use though. I am able to stand up my board and my wife's board next to each other and lock them using the base of the SkiKey structure. However, I do not have it sitting in there resting on the bindings like the SkiKey website shows. I place the boards on the ground and lean them into the SkiKey rack slots, then lock them together and to the rack itself.

 

[Jcb890]

What is the benefit for buying a ski key lock?

Size? Cost?

Both would need to be pretty compelling. I believe I paid $12 for my cable lock and it's smaller than a cell phone.

The price of the lock on their site is $23.95. I'm not sure of size, but I would imagine size is similar to the example you gave.

 

[VTKilarney]

What is the benefit for buying a ski key lock?

1) It's smaller than even the micro locks.
2) It's MUCH more secure than the micro lock cables.

 

[thetrailboss]

1) It's smaller than even the micro locks.
2) It's MUCH more secure than the micro lock cables.

To be honest, I thought that they were long gone because I have not seen any racks since leaving Vermont. I don't see them out here at all.

 

[BenedictGomez]

To be honest, I thought that they were long gone because I have not seen any racks since leaving Vermont. I don't see them out here at all.

The vast majority of resorts in the east have Skikey racks. I ski a bunch of places, and the only place I couldn't this season was at Jay Peak last week (though they did have Skikey just last month when I was there.

 

[deadheadskier]

1) It's smaller than even the micro locks.
2) It's MUCH more secure than the micro lock cables.

Those are benefits, but not compelling reasons for many lock owners to switch.

It might be smaller, but I'm fine with the size of mine at roughly half the size of a cell phone.

It might be more secure, but I've used my lock for 6-7 years and haven't had gear stolen. I know cable locks do get cut occasionally, but I imagine that percentage of gear theft is miniscule. Unless you have really desirable and expensive gear a thief will move on from the cable lock to the I'm guessing the 90% of gear on the racks that isn't locked.

So, even though skikey is a great product, it's market is probably mostly people who don't own a lock already.

It does amaze me that the market usage of ski locks is so small. It's so easy to lock stuff it's puzzling to me that so few people bother.

 

[VTKilarney]

So, even though skikey is a great product, it's market is probably mostly people who don't own a lock already.

I agree. I already own a micro lock and even if my resort had Skikey racks I don't see the point in buying yet another locking device.

 

[VTKilarney]

VTDigger has posted another article:
http://vtdigger.org/2015/03/30/vtdigger-exclusive-state-raises-questions-about-anc-bio-finances/

One interesting revelation in the article is that Quiros Sr. bought 25 acres of property for $3.1 million (in September, 2011) and had a contract to sell a mere 7 out of the 25 acres to the AnC Bio EB-5 project for $6 million with payment due in January, 2013.

It is my opinion that this deal SUBSTANTIALLY outperformed the market.

 

[burski]

Wow, that article does not portray Quiros or Stenger well, the insinuation and alleged wrong doings are almost too many to count. From the non disclosure of the bankruptcy of the parent company, to the fact that they ignored the state after the state asked them to suspend any investor related work on the project. Then the sale of a fraction of the land for 200% of the purchase price on the entire Newport parcel, if this is half as bad as this article indicates some people should be in very big trouble.

 

[thetrailboss]

VTDigger has posted another article:
http://vtdigger.org/2015/03/30/vtdigger-exclusive-state-raises-questions-about-anc-bio-finances/

One interesting revelation in the article is that Quiros Sr. bought 25 acres of property for $3.1 million (in September, 2011) and had a contract to sell a mere 7 out of the 25 acres to the AnC Bio EB-5 project for $6 million with payment due in January, 2013.

It is my opinion that this deal SUBSTANTIALLY outperformed the market.

:blink: Huh?

The state also has questions about internal transactions made by the company. Typically, immigrant investor funds are kept in escrow until the capital is needed for construction. Under the 2012 private placement memorandum, the investors in AnC Bio Vermont are not only buying shares in a construction project, they are also purchasing $10 million in product distribution rights from the Korean company. Some investor funds have already been paid to AnC Bio Pharm (Korea) for the rights, according to an email from Stenger to the state.

Stenger and Quiros took seven weeks to respond to the first official memo from ACCD, and the developers continued to delay or push back on the responses to the state’s requests, despite Kessler’s repeated warnings that the state would cancel the project if they refused to comply. The developers submitted a new offering memorandum in October, but by the end of the year many of the state’s questions remained unanswered, according to correspondence between Kessler and the developers and their attorneys.

And I guess this contradicts what Moulton said:

In January [2015], the state’s chief financial regulator, Susan Donegan, commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation, agreed to review the AnC Bio Vermont project and to oversee regulatory compliance for all EB-5 projects in Vermont. Donegan now has the sole authority to determine whether the biotech project should be canceled or continued. If Donegan approves the project, the developers must ask each investor to sign off on the new offering memorandum.

And how can they get "high marks" if they have not manufactured anything yet?

Stenger and Quiros hired a global tech firm last fall, Frost and Sullivan, to conduct a market analysis for AnC Bio Vermont that was submitted to the Department of Financial Regulation earlier this month. Frost and Sullivan gives AnC Bio Vermont high marks, citing the company’s superior scientific and engineering expertise for developing organ-assistance devices that are simple, efficient, safe, small and lightweight.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Wake me up when we get to part when the Federal investigation starts.

 

[LONGBOARDR]

WOW!

I have to say that that this is not looking good for continuance of this project (ANC BIO) or any other for that matter.
No official in their right mind would permit this to continue with all the unanswered questions and apparent lack of cooperation from BS and AQ. following the tradition of delay, distort, deny.

It is also remarkable that the Burlington Free Press has not even mentioned any of these important developments.