In the 1950s, Earl and Carol Holding moved to the Wyoming desert to take over a failing gas station/motel/cafe. That was the first step toward building what Tim Silva calls an “incredible empire” that includes Sun Valley Resort, the home base for Tugboat Summit and Sinclair Oil Corp. Silva, the resort’s general manager, says the Holding family used core Evergreen principles to grow their assets.

The conservative couple initially clashed with this free-spirited mountain town, but by investing in the resort and its people, becoming active members of the community and preserving the natural beauty of their surroundings, they earned the community’s respect.