KENT COUNTY, Mich. — This season was not the season the team at Cannonsburg Ski Area wanted to see.
"It was sad watching you know, the last chair go up. Everyone was just kind of silent on the deck, a lot of our customers... they just you could tell everyone felt bad,” said Marketing Director Danielle Mustoe.
Left with nothing but patches of grass, empty lift chairs and bills, a business like this could use all the help they could get.
But that help won't be coming from a new round of federal loan funding for small snow businesses.
“It's extremely disappointing. This year, over all the years and when we could especially have used it because, you know, since we've been open in 1965, this has been by far the worst winter with lack of cold temperatures and lack of snow,” said Mustoe.
The Governor is encouraging small snow businesses in 42 counties in the state, excluding Kent and Muskegon counties, to apply for federal loan assistance from the Small Business Administration.
These counties will be covered by a disaster designation from the Department of Agriculture.
"While I'm happy that other skiers are getting it, because I know how much it takes to run a ski area, we could really have used it,” said Mustoe.
Mustoe says the ski area lost nearly a million dollars from the season, laid off three quarters of its staff and stopped making investments because of the short season.
While they are still hoping Kent and Muskegon counties will eventually get added to the list, they say they are going to do everything they can to stay open and around for many years to come.
13 ON YOUR SIDE did reach out to the governor’s office for comment. Whitmer’s office referred 13 ON YOUR SIDE to the Small Business Administration. 13 ON YOUR SIDE has not receive a comment from the SBA.
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