When Slifer Smith & Frampton decided to expand into Steamboat Springs this summer, they tapped the services of Doug Labor, a broker with more than 40 years of experience, to lead a new team in his hometown.

“I’ve admired Slifer Smith & Frampton from afar since I first started in resort real estate more than 40 years ago,” Labor said. “The in-depth knowledge that they have on Colorado mountain communities and how they embrace the communities that they become a part of is second to none.”

Labor’s real estate career began in 1983 as a sales associate with a townhome project in Frisco where he got to know East West Partners, a sister company of Slifer Smith & Frampton.

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“I was a director of real estate at Copper Mountain and in the mid- to late-80s when Beaver Creek was just starting to really take off,” Labor said. “Because East West Partners was a major player in developing and doing the sales there, that was my first real experience with seeing the horsepower that they had, and what all they could do. Since that time, I’ve always kept an eye on them.”

Labor held executive-level positions at Copper Mountain, Hidden Valley Resort in Pennsylvania, and Whitefish Mountain in Montana before coming to the Steamboat Resort in the late 1990s.

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“For about the first 15 years I was in ski resort development, and what brought me to Steamboat was working for American Skiing Company,” Labor said. “I started with the Steamboat Grand here, and then I started my own brokerage called Buyers Resource, and then merged with Sotheby’s in 2015.”

Labor said when one of his clients showed an interest in The Amble in December, he started talking with Joe Cashen who put him in touch with Jason Cole, chief executive officer of Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate, which stated the conversation that led the Steamboat Springs’ broker to Slifer Smith & Frampton.

“I’m pretty excited for it. With what they’re doing at The Amble and the other development that could be happening, or will be happening, in the base area as well,” Labor said of the move to Slifer Smith & Frampton. “They’ve got an exciting, genuine business model to where they just want to focus on Colorado.”

He was also intrigued by the number of tools that Slifer Smith & Frampton have, and said the personnel and other assets they bring to support their sales efforts is impressive.

When he was asked to lead the team at the new Steamboat Springs offices of Slifer Smith & Frampton he accepted. Those offices opened the doors at the start of July, and for the past two months Labor has been growing the team.

He brings with him three brokers he has worked with in Steamboat Springs in Brooke Crofts, Linda Cullen, and Courtney Wiedel. Broby Leeds, from Vail, and Dorian Bailey, from Cherry Creek, are making the move from other Slifer Smith & Frampton offices to Steamboat Springs. The Steamboat office will also include the two brokers for The Amble including Cashen and Michael O’Donnell. Labor’s office located just off Lincoln Avenue in downtown Steamboat Springs at 56 9th Street will be reflagged as the main Slifer Smith & Frampton office in Steamboat joining the existing on-site sales office at The Amble.

Steamboat Springs will be an extension of Slifer’s Summit County market, with Chris Lankhorst serving as its market president and Labor serving as the Steamboat Branch Broker.

“We are incredibly excited to add Steamboat Springs to our Colorado network as it’s a community many of us at Slifer already know and love,” Lankhorst said. “At Slifer, we pride ourselves on being hyper-local, but we also have a global reach, making us a competitive option for buyers and sellers in Colorado’s luxury real estate market. We think this will be a great asset in a market like Steamboat.”

The company was founded in 1962 by the late Rod Slifer, the first licensed broker in Vail. In 1994, Slifer merged with Frampton Smith Real Estate and its founders, Mark Smith and Harry Frampton, forming the full-service real estate company of Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate.

 In addition, Slifer Smith & Frampton development sales division has over 30 years of experience and has conceived, marketed and sold more than 130 large projects across Denver, Summit County, Vail, Aspen, and throughout Colorado. The company’s network in Colorado now includes 29 offices, 320 brokers, and 100 team members supporting them. 

Earlier this year the company entered the Steamboat market with the launch of The Amble, an all-electric new development residential community of 42 residences developed by Slifer Smith & Frampton’s sister company, East West Partners that was selected by Alterra Mountain Company to transform Steamboat Ski Resort’s base village. Now, Slifer Smith & Frampton is also expanding into general brokerage services.

“Expanding into Steamboat Springs is a natural step in the continued evolution of Slifer Smith & Frampton,” Cole said. “At our core, we are a company focused on serving Colorado’s mountain resorts and Front Range communities. We see incredible potential in Steamboat Springs and the future of the Yampa Valley.”