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2014 WCM Campground Business Directory! WOODALL’S www.woodallscm.com CAMPGROUNDMANAGEMENT $2.50 U.S./$3.50 Canada The Independent Voice of the North American Campground Business Vol. 45 No. 2 • February 2014 RVC Partnering With Quality Parks to Create ‘Hilton’-Level RV Resorts INSIDE… Devcon Group Debuts Luxury ‘Fountains’ Resorts 3 Carefree Adds 13 Canadian Parks to Its Portfolio 3 Indiana Beach Owner Morgan RV Disputes Rumors 5 Award-Winning Santee Lakes Turns Self-Sufficient 22 Finding Help at LinkedIn’s ‘Campground Success’ 26 With properties in eight states, RVC Outdoor Destinations offers high-end resorts — including Florida’s Carrabelle Beach — at ‘reachable’ prices. Photo courtesy RVC. PUBLISHER’S CORNER By Sherman Goldenberg Concessionaires Suing Forest New Developer Aims to Make a Splash in the High-End NCA Preparing for 50th Anniversary Conference Service Over 2013 Shutdown Park Community With ‘The Fountains’-Branded Resorts The RV parks and campground sector’s agenda is as busy as ever Last year’s government shutdown may during the first quarter of 2014, from an annual educational pro- seem like a distant memory to some, but gram at the Oglebay Resort in West Virginia to state conferences the 16-day-long standoff in Washington in Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Michigan. And over the budget is still reverberating in one of the most significant stops on the early year’s calendar is a court, thanks to concessionaires. Golden Anniversary event for a key state trade association — the The Wall Street Journal reported that a 50th Annual Northeast Conference on Camping & Trade Show federal judge in Virginia was expected to hosted by the Northeast Campground Association Inc. (NCA) hear arguments in January in a dispute be- Mar. 20-22 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, Mass. tween the U.S. Forest Service and a na- In an era when several state associations have reached the half- tional group of campground operators century mark, including the Campground Owners of New York who claim the Obama administration (CONY), which held its 50th convention in late October at New made an “arbitrary” decision to shut them York State’s Kaatskill Mountain Resort, and the Pennsylvania Campground Owners Associ- down during last fall’s budget battle. ation (PCOA), which drew 200 attendees in mid-November to the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort The lawsuit is the latest test of the ex- near Farmington, this year’s Northeast conference amounts to a big moment for new executive ecutive branch’s power to decide what director Cyndy Zbierski as well as NCA’s nine affiliated northeastern state groups. parts of the federal government are al- “We are very excited,” reported Zbierski, who succeeded her father, veteran exec David Tetrault, lowed to keep running during budget im- as the trade group’s third director at the first of the year. “We’ve looked back at our programs from passes like the one in October, which 1965 — when the first Northeast Conference occurred — and we have been working very hard brought much of the federal government to truly celebrate the 50 years. Looking back at that program from 1965, there were things for to a halt for 16 days. brand-new owners and for everyone in between, regardless of whether they’d been in the industry The plaintiffs, led by the California- for 30 days or 30 years, and we’re going to continue that tradition. based National Forest Recreation Associ- “We have set up our programs for this year so that we have all kinds of educational opportunities ation, say the Forest Service had no legal The Devcon Group’s first luxury resort for Class A motorcoach owners, focusing on campgrounds, of course, but also focusing on them as small businesses — from topics justification under the law to close Na- The Fountains of St. Augustine, Fla., is slated to open later this year. like how to handle their cash reserves to issues like whether they should build a dog park,” added tional Forest campgrounds operated by Zbierski, whose father, after 23 years on the job, is stepping into a consultant mode for NCA. private businesses. ‘Being somewhat frustrated with the quality of the RV quality of the RV resorts I’ve visited, I’ve So, it goes without saying that Zbierski, who had been with NCA for six years, is expecting a The suit, which was filed in October, realized it’s time to get into the RV resort big crowd for the upcoming Northeast Conference. And those attending the Sturbridge conference claims that the campgrounds and recre- resorts I’ve visited, I’ve realized it’s time to get into the business,” Geisler said, who’s not all that can expect a spirited charity auction — one of the best ever — from a trade association that’s always ation areas should have been allowed to impressed with the accuracy of the ratings had a certain panache when it comes to calling for auction bids. remain open because they don’t rely upon RV resort business,’ said Curt Geisler, CEO of The De- delivered by today’s campground directo- “It really has been a big deal for us,” Zbierski added. “It’s our Friday night event, and we would the federal government for funding and vcon Group. The first of the company’s luxury resorts ries. As a result, he says he’s “spent a little never move it to another time because many people come just for the auction. They know that that private staff could have safely man- over $2 million in the last three years doing there’s going to be some great products and services — sometimes at a great price, although some- aged the sites. The group says the Forest is slated to open later this year in St. Augustine, Fla. a large amount of research in the market — times people pay $1,000 for a blueberry pie. You’re just never sure what you might get.” WCM Service carried out what it described as po- Some people will settle for less-than- cluding serving as consultants and man- and we’ve developed one of the best litically driven orders from the Obama ad- ideal accommodations in an RV park and agers for mergers and acquisitions, start- resorts you’ll see.” www.woodallscm.com ministration, costing businesses hundreds live with disappointed expectations. ups, consolidations, regulatory compliance, The Fountains of St. Augustine, Fla., of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. When you’re CEO of a large Florida com- expanding or modernizing existing opera- slated to open later this year, will be the first “We think it was an arbitrary decision pany with many specialties — including tions or facilities and new developments. of many high-end Class A motorcoach re- to just close the campgrounds,” the resort development — you don’t have to. It’s that last part that is a natural fit for sorts to open across the U.S. under ‘The February 2014 Vol. 45 No. 2 group’s executive director, Marily Reese, “I’m an RV guy personally. I’ve owned an the group, Geisler explained. “We’ve been Fountains’ banner, a new brand of luxury told Law Blog Jan. 15. A spokesman for RV coach myself, I’ve been in it most of my in the resort-development business for a motorcoach resorts introduced by The De- & MEDIA Publisher: Sherman Goldenberg the Forest Service didn’t respond to a re- life,” said Curt Geisler, CEO of The Devcon long time, developing different type resort vcon Group, which plans to build and ac- GROUP Editorial Director: Bruce Hampson quest for comment. WCM Group, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based company properties. quire parks. G involved in a wide variety of projects, in- “Being somewhat frustrated with the The Fountains – continued on page 20 Contact Information: Editorial Sherman Goldenberg, Publisher: Jeff Crider, Senior Editor: [email protected] [email protected] Parks Catering to Annual Snowbird Carefree Adds 13 Ontario Parks to its Office: (574) 457-3370 Office: (760) 469-5905 Mobile: (574) 457-6637 Mobile: (760) 567-9775 Migration Feted in Latest Directory Portfolio of Canadian Campgrounds Fax: (574) 457-8295 Arizona Justin Leighty, Editor: Bob Ashley, Editor at Large: • Apache Wells RV Resort, Mesa ‘The Castle Vacation Park acquisition provides Carefree [email protected] [email protected] • Canyon Vistas RV Resort & Supersti- a fantastic opportunity to expand in the Ontario market Mobile: (574) 370-5052 Office: (765) 675-4106 tion Views Resort, Gold Canyon Fax: (574) 266-7984 • Desert Gold RV Resort, Brenda and continue our growth,” noted David Napp, CEO • Desert's Edge RV-The Purple Park, Advertising: of Carefree Communities The Good Sam RV Travel Guide and Phoenix Beverly Gardner, Vice Wendy Thorne, Account Campground Directory has released its list • High Chaparral RV Park, Arizona City Carefree Communities Inc. ex- President, National Ad Sales Executive, National Ad Sales of ‘Top Snowbird Parks’ for 2014. Located • Mesa Spirit RV Resort, Mesa panded its presence in the Ontario, [email protected] [email protected] across the warm-weather band that • Phoenix Metro RV Park, Phoenix Canada, market with the acquisition of Office: (574) 266-7980 Office (574) 266-7980 stretches from California to the southeast, • Rincon Country East RV Resort, Tucson 13 RV resorts from Toronto-based Cas- or (800) 831-1076 ext. 12 or (800) 831-1076 ext. 14 each of the 53 ‘Top Snowbird Parks’ was rec- • Sunrise RV Resort, Apache Junction tle Vacation Parks. According to the Ally Kollat, Account Art Direction: ognized for activities, services and comforts • Superstition Sunrise RV Resort, company, the properties currently have Executive, National Ad Sales tailored to travelers who often stay in their Apache Junction approximately 3,000 RV sites with the Trina Nissley, Art Director [email protected] Sun Belt roosts for months at a time.