Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris and Allison Short. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Chris: Chris grew up in Burnsville, MN, and went to college in South Carolina at Coastal Carolina University. He graduated with a marketing degree and a minor in professional golf management, and started his career working and managing golf courses. He always loved construction and decided to leave the golf business and start a construction company. Chris got his General Contractors license and worked in the cities and in northern MN building and remodeling cabins. He named his company White Pine Construction after his favorite trees in northern MN. Chris and his wife, Allison, loved going north to work and always wanted to move there. The lodge became the reason to move!
Allison: A former middle school math teacher who grew up in Burnsville, MN, Allison attended the University of Delaware to earn a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Masters in Educational Technology. She also set on the school’s Division I volleyball team. Before returning to Minnesota, Allison taught and coached for 8 years in Cresskill, New Jersey. She taught and coached in Wayzata for 2 years and Prior Lake for 4 years. While she loved her students, athletes, and co-workers, Allison was ready to ‘shuffle the deck’ and move on to a new venture. Running White Pine Lodge alongside her husband sounded like a Hallmark movie, so she was in!
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s gone well and has been a ton of fun! Never running or operating a resort has led to a learning curve on many levels, but we love being able to figure it out together. We take each day as it comes and keep learning.
As you know, we’re big fans of White Pine Lodge. What can you tell our readers who might need to be more familiar with the brand?
We are a lodge/resort along the Gunflint Trail in northern MN. We have 6 cabins, 3 lodge rooms, and 4 campsites. We also have a pub where we serve homemade artisan pizza and drinks. We are open year-round. The two of us run the entire operation by ourselves. The only employee we have is our dog, Clarence. He is in charge of guest relations:) Other than the 3 of us, we don’t have any other employees. We love to work! We are a small family-run business specializing in keeping our property looking great and our guests feeling special. When we purchased the lodge in August 22′ it was called Big Bear Lodge. We decided to rebrand and change it to White Pine Lodge. White Pine has always been our brand with Chris’ construction company. People have always loved the name, so we decided to stick with it.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
We love the remoteness and how quiet it is. Every day, you wake up to nature. We also love the community. Everyone has been incredibly supportive, and it’s one big family.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.whitepinelodgemn.
com - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/ whitepinelodgemn/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/WhitePineLodgeMN - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/channel/UCGHu3Xs5Y5dz_ esG1xkd00w
