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Aquiring camps, retaining directors
A father and son are buying up summer camps and encouraging the former camp owners to stay on
Reprinted from Family Business Magazine
Summer 2005
Despite the emotional complexities associated with the camping industry, Dan Zenkel, the 46-year-old president and CEO of
CampGroup, LLC, bases his business on the belief that camps are no different from any other business--they, too, can be
acquired. Since he founded his White Plains, N.Y., company with his father, Bruce, in 1998, CampGroup has bought nine
summer camps, seven of which were family owned. CampGroup now owns and operates camps in Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
New York and Michigan.
Zenkel believes his strategy is successful because, on the surface, nothing really changes. CampGroup acquires all the
assets of the camp, including its name and real estate, but the camp directors are encouraged to stay on and run their
programs; in exchange, they receive a salary, a bonus and equity in the larger company. "We want to keep each camp
unique and preserve its history." Zenkel says, "but take on back-office functions so camp directors can focus on what
they do best, such as recruiting campers and setting up staff."
So far, so good. Six camp directors are still with the organization. The benefit for the camps is that Zenkel and his
full-time staff of 12 provide all bookkeeping, budgeting, purchasing, legal, environmental, regulatory and strategic
services. "If you ask any camp director what he or she loves to do, it's run the program, recruit the kids and hire
the staff," Zenkel says. "The rest, to them, is a headache, and frankly it's become too much for one person. We provide
a support system that shares the responsibility and the risk."
Since the sale of a camp can take anywhere from six months to two years, Zenkel has become somewhat of an authority
on the emotional ties that bind the directors to their camps. "Next to their children, their camp is their most
prized possession," he says of camp directors in general. "They have poured their entire lives into their respective
camps and rightfully, it takes a long time to decide to sell."
While Zenkel encourages directors to stay on, traditionally when a camp was sold, the director was expected to vacate
the premises. "We realize we are not buying a business but a lifestyle," Zenkel says. "We tell our directors that we
will help them plan for their retirement and succession. We make it very clear that we are not in the real estate business.
We are in the camping business."
All of the camps CampGroup has acquired have been profitable, but the company is now starting to look at camps to turn
around. Zenkel's latest venture is to start a new two-week camp on 20 acres CampGroup purchased in Michigan, adjacent to
camps it already owns.
In addition, Zenkel recently acquired a purchasing company that was already providing services to camps and other agencies.
"Camps can choose to simply pay us for this service or any other service that we provide," he says. "We don't have to own
your real estate. Our mission is to make traditional camps better so that they can survive."
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