Ritz-Carlton,
Bachelor Gulch
Following a spate of
negative headlines in the business and consumer press, troubled
mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. pulled the plug on a
ski event for mortgage bankers that was scheduled to take place in
late February at the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, a ski resort in
Avon, Colo. According to a Feb. 26 Wall Street Journal
report, the company has reduced its work force by 11,400, or 19
percent, since last July.
In a statement, the Calabasas,
Calif.-based CFC said that “in light of recent events,” it had
decided to cancel all gatherings with business partners and clients
for the rest of the year, moving quickly after being criticized for
planning what U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and others
had called an inappropriately extravagant trip.
At press time, a spokesperson for CFC
confirmed that two incentive programs slated to take place at the
Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Fla., in March and
April also had been canceled.
Sounding a note of caution in reaction
to CFC’s much-publicized cancellations was John Reed, chairman of
the American Credit Union Mortgage Association, an organization
devoted to the development of best practices for credit unions in
the area of home financing. “I don’t necessarily feel that all
strategic, well-functioning conferences should fall under the
budget knife,” he told M&C, “but certainly those
conferences that don’t pack a real strategic punch could be
eliminated when dollars are tight.”