Big Sky Buddy program aims to welcome seasonal workers 

By Jen Clancey DIGITAL PRODUCER

Gissel Gutierrez remembers her first Christmas in Big Sky in 2015.

“We tried to make a Christmas dinner in our housing,” Gutierrez said. She was living in the Whitewater Inn at the time. Without a proper kitchen, her friends relied on a crockpot to share mashed potatoes with the people in the room. Gutierrez finished the evening by calling her family in Lima, Peru. 

She also describes the time she ventured to the Exxon gas station along U.S. Highway 191 to grab some last minute snacks for New Years. “And it was closed,” she laments, laughing—they were used to gas stations being open at all hours, among the many lifestyle changes she experienced in her first season living in Big Sky.

Hundreds of international and seasonal workers come to work in Big Sky every year to meet the seasonal demand of visitors. This year, the Big Sky Rotary Club is working to make J-1, H-2B and other seasonal workers feel welcome. Laura Seyfang mentioned that she’s enjoyed connecting with these young workers. “I think we always left feeling like we’d like to do more,” Seyfang said. So, she and other community members started the Big Sky Buddy Program three weeks ago. 

The Big Sky Buddy program allows Big Sky community members to connect with a new seasonal employee and make them “feel welcome in Big Sky” through organized meetings, as well as accompanying them to local social events.

The Wilson Hotel and Montage have provided space for Rotary Club of Big Sky’s free seasonal workforce events. Events like a bowling night, ice skating and free tubing are open for registration. Community members can offer their homes and cooking skills to host small in-home dinners throughout the winter. 

‘I don’t want them to feel alone’

Gutierrez worked three more winter seasons at Big Sky Resort on a seasonal schedule before she stayed in Big Sky full time in 2018. Still, she remembers arriving here from her home country as “coming to a different planet.”

“I feel like, [the program] will give guidance or [be] like a big brother for them,” Gutierrez said. On top of the logistics of proper winter wear, social security, bank accounts and transportation, she explains that local knowledge about where to get the best groceries, where people can hang out in town and what options are available for fun activities are important in the transition to Big Sky. 

Michelle Nierling, culinary department administrator at the Yellowstone Club, is a part of the Big Sky Buddy effort as well. She said that the work that human resources does to welcome seasonal workers is substantial, but still just a starting point. 

“The companies’ HR do well—they provide some things—but I feel like it’s good to get an outside perspective, besides everything being through your employer, so that you can [also] depend … on the community,” Nierling said. 

She explained that living in the area, and getting involved in Big Sky are “two different things.” 

“It’s one thing to be here, but it’s another thing to be involved and in-the-know with the community,” Nierling said. She explained how the young seasonal workers remind her of her own young kids. 

“I don’t want them to feel alone.”

Learning from each other

Laura Seyfang has been in Big Sky for six years, including serving as executive director of the Big Sky Community Housing Trust, and through her work has seen the community’s desire to meet and connect with new people. 

“I think there’s always been an appreciation in this town for the seasonal workers that come. It just sometimes takes a coordinating body to pull it all together,” Seyfang said. She hopes that the community gets involved in the program’s first season and that seasonal workers can take advantage of the events, emphasizing that they go beyond just partaking in night life. 

“I think it has to help,” Seyfang said. “We want to create other healthy ways to feel welcome, feel appreciated, because all humans want that … [We’d like people] to go back home thinking, ‘Wow, Big Sky was such a friendly and welcoming place.’ Isn’t that what we would love our community to be known as?”

Nierling said she didn’t know just how welcoming and supportive the community was until she learned about opportunities for involvement. She’s concerned that seasonal workers don’t know about these opportunities for reasons like language barriers and not being in direct contact with locals, and hopes that alongside free events and Big Sky Buddies that she can incorporate volunteering sign ups. Upcoming events include a bowling night on Jan. 9 at Montage, a welcome dinner at The Wilson on Jan. 16 and a tubing night at The Montage on Jan. 30.

Seasonal workers are a critical part of Big Sky’s economy. But aside from staffing the resort, and other businesses, they also contribute to the local culture.

“They bring diversity, they bring their cultures, new traditions,” Gutierrez said, thinking about what seasonal workers bring to Big Sky. “This is a cliche, but I think [they bring] lots of love. Latinos show love and affection. And I think that is what the world needs.”