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Weekly UpdatesAT AGE 73, ARNE PETERSEN FIGURES he's about 34 years away from the end of his third career.
Saskatchewan to his very core, Petersen bleeds green and has devoted his third career to making this a better place to live and have fun. He's done it in a way that is not only breathtaking, he's reshaping the tourism industry and has been a catalyst for a rebirth of one of the province's most scenic and storied regions.
In his previous incarnations, he was instrumental in establishing Saskatchewan as a key supplier to the then-emerging industry of reconstituted wood products.
But, before that, his career began on the floor of a wood processing plant in Hudson Bay in 1960, an inauspicious beginning that hardly signaled the success that was to follow in the next four decades. This was where he learned all there was to know about wood products as an employee of the wafer board plant that became part of the MacMillan Bloedel organization. After 10 years at the plant, he left with a vision of setting up his own company.
Precision Service & Engineering was incorporated on April 1, 1975 and it turned out to be anything but an April's Fool prank. Under Petersen's guidance the company grew rapidly, developing a reputation for designing, building or installing anything that had to be done in an oriented strand board plant. At its peak, PS&E employed 650 people and achieved the remarkable milestone of having played a role in the design or construction of 75 of the first 76 OSB mills erected around the world. He did all of this from a Saskatchewan head office.
Ultimately, when it became time to sell the company, Petersen found a willing buyer in Finland clearing the way for him to set his mind on yet another new career--as a resort builder in his home province.
Fifteen years ago, when he began turning his vision for the Elk Ridge Resort into reality, he told a reporter that he didn't want to sit around in a tent shack at Waskesiu after selling the business.
That story hasn't changed much in the decade and a half since he embarked on his ambitious plan to turn a patch of forest into a four-season getaway for city folk looking to bask in a little quiet and natural beauty.
"I'll never, ever retire," Petersen says today. "I'll always do something."
During his years as an international leader in the development of OSB mills, he traveled the world gathering ideas for a resort, drawing on examples wherever he went. After selling the business, he had the time and the money to turn those ideas into reality.
"There was a definite need," he says in explaining his decision to erect a major all-season tourist destination on the fringe of Prince Albert National Park.
"Especially for golf. The park was not going to do more development. They were pleased with what we did."
Petersen started the project in 1993 with a nine-hole golf course and an eye to residential real estate development along with more golf holes. Three years later he had completed the second nine, doing much of the bush clearing for the course himself. Actually, that's the kind of work Petersen likes to do. He's not inclined to spend time poring over numbers or to hold down a desk in the office. He's hands-on, particularly if the work involves man-sized toys like a bulldozer.
Today, Elk Ridge boasts a 27-hole golf operation along with a new hotel and conference centre, 28 condominiums, nearly three dozen townhouses and 50 of the 110 private residential lots remain available. It employs 120 people in the peak summer season and half that in the off-season.
"We want to get to a day when we don't have a low season," says Petersen of the organization's push to attract patrons all year round.
This summer's big project, says Petersen, is adding nearly 50 units to the staff quarters as the resort builds the infrastructure needed to meet that projected growth.
TEAM BUILDING
Because Petersen is more interested in sales and operations than the financial aspects of running a business, he ha: attracted management people that would complement his skill set.
His latest addition is Brian Simpson. Well known in construction circles in the Prince Albert area, Simpson now acts as Petersen's chief operating officer but the pair have a long history together. Petersen was instrumental in helping Simpson launch his construction company and served as his mentor.
"I always, always hired good management people," Petersen says of his approach to business. "That was almost all of my success."
Another of those is Steve Johnston who assumed responsibility for management of the hotel and conference centre last year. He came to Elk Ridge after opening a hotel in North Battleford for Airline Hotels, a Saskatoon company that has been contracted to manage all the hospitality and rental operations at Elk Ridge. Airline operates seven properties; in Western Canada including its flagship, the Travelodge in Saskatoon's north end.
"Arne's a great person that has amazing vision to look at a forest and see what he's done," Johnston says of Petersen's determination to develop Elk Ridge. "We're a four-season resort now. We have our Canada Select Four Star designation."
Completing the hotel and conference centre last year changed the way the complex was marketed, according to Johnston who notes that two-thirds of their traffic originates inside the province and the peak season is booked two years ahead.
"We now offer luxury accommodation and service so we're the first thing that comes to mind."
Being situated next door to the national park provides a further boost.
"The park is a landmark," Johnston adds. "Any time you can associate with a landmark has to be a benefit. We can cooperate to draw more people to the area They complement each other."
Dr. Lynda Haverstock, president and CEO of Tourism Saskatchewan, the province's primary tourism promotional agency, sees a slightly larger picture of the regional nature of the Prince Albert National Park region.
Noting that Tourism Saskatchewan is in the process of developing a tourism plan for the Prince Albert National Park region, she points to the recent developments at Candle Lake as well as Elk Ridge and the long-established facilities at Waskesiu as a regional asset "where you can house people, feed people and entertain them. There are gems here."
Waskesiu lacked the investment required to meet the growing demand for tourism product in the area so private developers have filled the void.
Haverstock says the quality of projects such as Elk Ridge has put Saskatchewan on a new footing in the tourism industry.
"Tourism is about two things," she explains. "One is our province's image and our own residents' pride. When one is in Elk Ridge you know the vision, courage and determination that brought it to fruition has boosted our image. Secondly it speaks to our residents' pride."
She points to a recent visit by the Canadian Tourism Council's American team who were offered two sites to get a taste of Saskatchewan's tourism product. One was the City of Moose Jaw, the other was Elk Ridge.
"They (those who chose the Elk Ridge visit) all said the same thing. We've never been to a place that transported us like Elk Ridge. These are people who pitch Canadian destinations to Americans. Before, they have never contemplated pitching Saskatchewan. Elk Ridge did that."
For Petersen, the development continues to be a labour of love. Even after 15 years he continues to reinvest in expansion with plans to add more than 30 rooms to the hotel as well as underground parking to lure winter conference traffic and make it, in his words, "a really, really nice spot--winter or summer."
Petersen's investment and hard work have created what amounts to a new community which will take on a new dimension this summer when a church becomes the newest addition.
Claiming he's not a particularly religious man, this is one amenity he's always wanted to add. So, he found one in the Birch Hills area and had it relocated to the Elk Ridge site. A foundation for the building was installed and he spent part of the spring putting the steeple back onto the building.
His next project involves more government relations than construction savvy, however. He's been pushing for legislation that would allow fractional ownership of resort properties in the province.
Noting that Saskatchewan citizens have invested upwards of a half-billion dollars in fractional ownership projects in other parts of the world, they have not been allowed to do the same here. He hopes to see that change.
"We plan a very active program in fractional ownership (if regulatory changes are made)," he says. "Saskatchewan people may find it easier to invest $75,000 instead of $300,000 for sole ownership."
Arne Petersen has not only changed the landscape on the eastern boundary of Prince Albert National Park, he's become a major player in the province's tourism industry in the process.
For someone like Lynda Haverstock who is charged with promoting the province as a playground and tourist destination, he is an inspiration to others in the industry.
"You take a Petersen at Elk Ridge and you realize you can make anything happen," she offers. "They jump over all the hurdles everyone throws in front of them."
Among those hurdles is bureaucracy and red tape. Delays in getting government approvals for various aspects of the project set him back two years resulting in a waiting list of 450 people wanting to invest in his development. Many, he adds, simply gave up and purchased properties in other communities in the area.
Nonetheless, Petersen's enthusiasm and commitment to the Elk Ridge project remain evident as he fills a personal need to give back to the province he calls home.
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