LEADERSHIP
Dear Fellow Members:
The month of December is a busy time for most people as the holiday season kicks into high gear. It is also an excellent time to reflect upon all that has been accomplished throughout the past year and begin planning for continued progress in the coming year. The leadership team and your board are hard at work performing all of these activities to ensure our investment in Forest Highlands remains strong and provides exceptional value. Reflecting on 2022 we saw a return to more normal operations across the club after the challenges of the past 2 years. Tee time accessibility was significantly improved with golf rounds ending the year at 31,230. This is still slightly higher than pre-pandemic rounds, but certainly not at the level of the 44,181 experienced in 2020. Merchandise sales in the golf shops are projected to hit a new record at just over $1,000,000. Member satisfaction with the food and beverage operation and use of the various dining outlets remain at historic levels with 64,888 covers through October 31 compared with 63,344 in 2021. The recreation and racquet operations also saw exceptional growth during 2022 with the increase in younger members and families and interest in outdoor activities remains strong. Youth participation in our racquet activities grew by 39% with overall participation in tennis up 16% and pickleball up 17%. Once we have our new pickleball facility up and running we expect to see a whole new wave of members vying to purchase at Forest Highlands because of our pickleball facility and programming. Use of concierge and residential services continues to grow exponentially and is the fastest growing area within the operation – Kudos to Kurt Martin and Austin Vigorito for the success of this highly valued service. The successes of the season also presented a few challenges as the club dealt with the impacts of high inflation leading to increased costs for the goods and services used throughout the operation, difficulty in filling vacant positions due to the high cost of living in Flagstaff (18.7% higher than the national average and 12.3% higher than the state average), continued supply chain issues and shortage of products, and a reduction in NOCC and transfer fees from real estate sales due to the historically low supply of homes and lots available for sale. The increase in use of the club facilities, amenities and services and corresponding increases in labor to meet those demands, coupled with
VOICE IN THE PINES | DECEMBER 2022 2
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