'Young Professional' Discusses Forward Thinking, Education, The Future & Connecting At National Confab In Fort Worth, Texas
Enthusiasm and the texture of ambition are great attributes that don't often get seen genuinely hand in hand. Jaron Starner, manager of Cedar Lake Family Campground, exudes those qualities. But beyond that he is also a part of a new breed of campground executives that constitute the Young Professionals, a gathering of great young minds at ARVC being educated as the next wave. The Buzz sat down with Starner at the national ARVC convention to discuss origins, connections and moving forward.
The Buzz: How do you get involved in the campground business?
Jaron Starner: Originally my family was [in it]. My grandfather did [it]. And my parents owned it. I was pretty convinced that I was going to own a campground and take over my family's business for a third generation. One day a company came by and said “We want to buy your park”. When they did I said “No. We're not interested” but then they invited me to my first ARVC convention. It was in Knoxville, Tennessee. I went alone. [And] my bubble was popped. It was like there was this whole world out there with this idea of outdoor hospitality. I never really thought about it that way...and we ran a campground. The idea of that there is an industry out there that is growing and thriving. Through RVC I became familiar with the Outdoor Hospitality Education Program so very quickly I became very passionate about seeing what is going on.
The Buzz: What blew your mind?
JS: What actually blew my mind was how big and how collaborative this industry is. We are in the growth cycle. If you look at the [current] marketing growth cycle...our service industry is growing big time...every single park has got a perishable item and that is RV sites. It is fascinating when you recognize that people are out there willing to share all this information...all this wealth they have. That blew my mind....this collaboration. I thought the park down the road wasn't going to tell us their secrets. But they want to tell us their secrets because they still want our customers to come to the area. The idea is that our customers are wheels...whether you have short term or long term guests...you are not the mobile home industry. People want to go from park to park eventually. And if one grows, we all grow.
The Buzz: Does it change the way you look at your park. How you perceive it?
JS: Originally [ours] was a small business, family owned...we're just going to keep doing what we were doing. But you come to a convention like ARVC and you go through the education sessions that are available at the conference...and you quickly realize how much is available out there. You take that and go back to your park and say “Wow. That little two acres that I thought was useless?” Suddenly I have a new vision. You start to develop things like a mission statement and you create your story.
The Buzz: But there are so many details to an RV park. You have to turn a profit....but yet still have the passion.
JS: This is a great question for me to explain especially because being from a family owned business, we don't want to raise our rates because we love our customers. We're friends with our customers and that's very true. That is the joy of our industry because we are very passionate about making sure our customers are happy, getting to know them and providing an experience along with great customer service levels...but what ARVC does for you is make your realize[that] there is dollar signs. It makes you understand that there is a time...for example the diametric crisis is coming and the industry is slowing switching over to recognizing, the supply and demand of availability [meaning] the less availability you have, the price goes up. That is something that people in the industry are pumping the brakes on and saying “We'll never do that” but it is a reality to say “Why not?”. That is where the passionate and the profitability come in. ARVC gives RV operators and owners the opportunity to realize that there is a level of profitability outside what you are doing now . There are all kinds of sources of ancillary income. At the end of the day, if you are passionate about your park but you're not making money, you can't grow it. You can't add new capital projects. You can't expand it. That sadly is why so many parks have gone through. They would have a great park for 3 or 4 years or even 1 or 2 generations but when they quit adding money into them or putting new capital in them and they slowly just fell apart.
The Buzz: The campground industry is multi-generational. But currently there are the boomers and the millennials with the workkampers in between. Can you talk about bridging the gap?
JS: You are talking about the operations side correct? If so, absolutely. And what ARVC has done so great this year is that they opened up a new program called “The Young Professionals”. This will be my 3rd ARVC convention in the past 4 years. It cracks me up because at my first one, I was walking around and I was the youngest person in the room that was actually in a managerial position. I was kinda outside my element....and when I am saying I was outside my element, I was actually in my element. It was what I was used to. I was used to being around 50 year old plus operator/owners...that's who you work with. Even my management team. That was what was established. But with the :Young Professionals” becoming involved now...there are 42 in the program...and here are all these young minds. I was going around talking to them. This one girl introduced herself from down in Twin Lakes in Florida. She was 18 years old. I almost fell over. Oh my god. I was instinctively thinking she was about 27 or 28 because that is even younger of what I thought I would meet people here. But they are building that bridge and they are finding ways to bring these young owners in and say look “You are the future!” That is what this “Young Prtofessionals” program is doing. You can see it when you walk around this expo here today...you see these young professionals hopping on the carts and driving around and being excited to look at reservations systems and see what new products are available.
The Buzz: You have the balance of being a great person but integrating your business sense, People here have reacted to you specifically. Can you talk about what centers and motivates you...
JS: At the end of the day, every single one of us has a leader within. We all carry that trait...whether we know it or not. We've led something. Whether if it was back when we led our first cub scout meeting...we've always, at one point, been the leader in something. If you haven't, it is OK. But when it comes to this industry, the people that are here, the majority of them are leaders and have leader characteristics. I think the most important thing is realizing, as a leader, that it is very important to be enthusiastic. It is important to be optimistic. It is important to embrace change and take that energy and pass on to the folks around us. I'll be honest with you. I don't always mean to be the center of the spotlight...but I want people to feel welcome and I want them to feel upbeat. I don't want to see them coming into an [education] session and sitting in the very back not sure if they want to be too involved. [For me] it is about finding a way to make them comfortable and make their voices heard. Really my job [at convention] as a room host and even as a “Young Professional” is to make the Generation Xers and the Baby Boomers comfortable with us being here because we're new. We're young but we're fresh and we have a lot of ideas. We're optimistic and enthusiastic and crazy and fun.
The Buzz: The thing is the boomers see a lot of their mirror reflection in the millennials.
JS: (smiling) And I'm up front being obnoxious. They are the ones in the back smiling and getting engaged. You can just kind of see their faces light up. That is why I often find myself...and I also go back to my first year attending an ARVC convention, I was most comfortable when I was working with that 50+ age group. Like I would go up and say [to one of the older people] “You want to dance. Let's dance”. But when it is somebody more in my age category it is like “Well the social norms are different now. You're not supposed to approach things that way. The baby boomers really do embrace our generation more than they realize. They do. When we are being excited and having a good time and being passionate, they are usually the first ones to kind of hop on-board [with it]. We are not all that different. We are very very similar. And I really do think the passion and optimism we bring to the industry needs to embraced.
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Cedar Lake Family Campground, a 76 acre campground full of beautiful scenery. The heart of the park, a fish filled 7 acre lake, will inspire anyone to relax. From a tent trip to a seasonal get away, Cedar Lake provides more than enough to make your camping experience enjoyable.