The new owners of Sugarloaf and Sunday River have brought money, innovation and a growth strategy to their other resorts.

Judging by its other resorts, the new owner of Sugarloaf USA and Sunday River ski resorts seems to have a solid trail of investments.

Boyne USA, the largest privately owned four-season resort company in North America, has been developing and operating ski resorts since its founder, Everett Kircher, paid $1 for 40 acres of land in northern Michigan to build a ski hill back in 1947. When it opened on New Year’s Day 1948, an all-day lift ticket cost $5.

Sixty years later, the family-owned company operates seven resorts, on a scale that puts it in the top tier of the leisure/resort industry by investing hundreds of millions of dollars.

Specific plans for the Maine resorts won’t be revealed until after the $79 million deal with former owner American Skiing Co. is complete July 31. But that hasn’t stemmed reaction to the news.

“We’re very encouraged,” said Julie Ard, spokeswoman for Boyne USA. “There’s been tremendous enthusiasm from the New England market.”

She’s basing that on the relentless inquiries from skiers, snowboarders, Chambers of Commerce, bloggers and the media since the June 5 announcement.

“It’s been wonderful,” she said. “I can’t say enough about the reception. It feels like perhaps the two resorts were forgotten in somebody’s mind. Clearly there are deep feelings about these resorts.”

Winter sports enthusiasts may have something to cheer about. Boyne has a solid track record of investing in its properties.

• It’s in the midst of a 10-year, $400 million upgrade to Big Sky resort in Montana that started in 2001. Since buying Big Sky in 1976, Boyne has invested $68 million in condo and hotel accommodations, in addition to adding 13 lifts and other upgrades.

• Since buying Crystal Mountain in Washington in 1997, Boyne has spent $15 million in new lifts, grooming equipment and amenities like restaurants and shops. New lodging, six new lifts, a year-round tram and other improvements are part of a master development plan begun in 2006.

• Boyne expanded Cypress Mountain in British Columbia and added a new lift since buying it in 2001. The 70-year-old property was sold last year to CNL Investment Properties, a group investing in lifestyle-related real estate, but is still operated by Boyne. The $47.5 million deal included a scenic chairlift across the continent in Gatlinburg, Tenn., that also will remain under Boyne’s management. This year, CNL also purchased Brighton Resort in Utah from Boyne for $35 million. Boyne bought the resort in 1987 and will continue to operate it for CNL.

The other Boyne resorts are all based in Michigan, nearby spinoffs of Kircher’s first ski hill. Perhaps the most impressive is the Bay Harbor complex, a former cement plant that was transformed into a 5-mile-long resort on the shores of Lake Michigan that boasts a luxury hotel, condominium village and 27 holes of top-notch golf. The project cost $500 million, but the results are impressive. It was ranked in the Top Ten Coastal Resorts by Golf Digest Magazine in 2002, alongside Pebble Beach Bandon Dunes.

The investment in golf and other warm-weather activities, such as water parks, is part of a growth strategy that many ski resorts have undertaken since skiing stalled in the 1980s.

“I think all ski resorts face the same situation,” said Jeff Coy, a resort industry consultant who has worked with Boyne in the past. “Everyone is expected to pay bills 12 months a year when there’s only a short ski season. So they have to get in the mode of how to generate revenue the other three seasons of the year.”

The result? Ski resorts build golf courses, condominiums, conference centers, mountain bike trails, water parks and other attractions. Boyne has embraced that diversification philosophy, said Coy, especially Stephen Kircher, who heads the eastern division of the company.

“Steve Kircher is a young, aggressive sort of leader,” said Coy. “He’s looking for ways to grow the company. I can see why he made the two purchases.”

The Northeast still has a vibrant ski industry, trailing the Rocky Mountains, but ahead of the Pacific West and Midwest, according to data compiled by National Ski Association of America. Kircher said in a prepared statement at the time of the Maine purchases that Boyne was eager to build a market in New England.

Kircher, a skier and avid golfer, understands the importance of developing resorts for a younger market, in particular adding amenities for snowboarders versus traditional downhill skiers, said Coy.

“Snowboarders are coming, and for the ski industry to stay alive and for the numbers to grow at all, we need them,” he said. “Some of the older ski resorts, with older ownership, are not adjusting to the market.

“Steve gets that. He’s put in new facilities, skate parks, indoor water parks … it’s all part of the future,” he said. Coy noted that one ski resort, Camelback in Pennsylvania, built an outdoor water park about three years ago, and now summer visitors exceed winter guests.

Boyne also has a history of innovation going back to its founder. Everett Kircher invented a snowmaker in 1974 that combined high efficiency with minimum noise. He designed snow grooming equipment and was the first to install things like a triple-chair lift in 1964 and the nation’s first 6-seat, high-speed chairlift in 1992. In 2000, SKI Magazine named him one of the Top 100 Most Influential Skiers of All Time. He died in 2002.

But his children carry on their father’s passion for winter sports and the outdoors. Ard said although the company can’t provide any details about their plans for the Maine resorts, people should be assured that the company’s philosophy is to grow their investments.

“We do have a track record of reinvesting into our facilities,” she said. “Absolutely we are committed.”