Like every state campground association director, Don Bennett, Jr. has been as busy as he’s ever been these past few months.
A third-generation campground owner and operator of Conesus Lake Campground in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York, Bennett is president and CEO of the Campground Owners of New York (CONY), the state that led the nation in COVID-19 cases and deaths when the pandemic started last Spring.
Bennett’s job was further complicated by the wildly different approaches New York’s 62 counties took during the pandemic.
“In some regions of the state,” he said, “campgrounds were considered essential businesses. In others, we were not.”
“New York,” Bennett added, “is like a microcosm of the whole country.”
Only instead of 50 different approaches by 50 states, New York had 62 different approaches by 62 counties, which were further grouped into 11 regions that each have their own state-mandated COVID-19 restrictions.
When WOODALLSCM.com (WCM) caught up with Bennett parks in the state were just beginning to reopen, now most parks are able to operate and New York has a 14-day mandatory quarantine requirement for people traveling from 31 states.
“The past few months have been very challenging with all of the uncertainty in the business world and in the campground world. Our members are always wanting answers,” Bennett explained. “They want us to snap our fingers (and take care of things). I’ve been frustrated at not being more successful at times.”
But while Bennett has had his hands full advocating for parks around the state, he has also been busy overseeing his own family park, Conesus Lake Campground, which borders the westernmost lake in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York, about 30 miles south of Rochester.
Bennett’s grandparents, Edward and Mildred Yaniszewski, built the campground in the late 1960s after taking an RV trip across the country.
“They enjoyed the lifestyle so much,” Bennett said. “They talked to campground owners along the way and thought it would be a good business to get into.”
Edward Yaniszewski was a master carpenter and was able to build the campground with his family helping out and opened the park in 1962. Like most first-time campground operators, the Yaniszewskis started small but added more campsites and amenities over time.
“My parents tell me I spent my first night at the campground when I was about two weeks old,” Bennett said, adding that his grandfather taught him how to do construction work, a skill he put to good use in his teen years as he helped his grandparents expand their campground.
“I put in electrical lines, water lines, sewer lines. My grandfather knew how to do everything,” Bennett said.
His grandparents also saw the need for an organization to protect the business interests of private campground operators. They were founding members of CONY, which was established in 1963. In fact, Bennett’s grandmother was treasurer of CONY for at least the first decade and is a member of the CONY Hall of Fame.
Bennett’s mother, Gale, and uncle, Robert Yaniszewski, were also active at the campground for many years until they retired. Bennett Jr. earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and finance with a minor in economics from Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, where he also played offensive tackle on Ashland’s Division II football team.
He subsequently worked for a small accounting firm for 15 years, handling everything from audits to tax returns. Bennett continues to run a private accounting practice as a small side business.
Bennett himself became treasurer of CONY in 2003 and was later promoted to president and CEO of CONY in 2006 following the retirement of Bob Klos, who had served as CONY’s top administrator since 1975. Bennett, in fact, is only the second president and CEO in CONY’s 57-year history.
“CONY began in 1963,” Bennett said. “From what my grandmother tells me, it was started by 12 campground owners that were in attendance at the Cornell University Campground Management School. Sadly, this does not exist any longer. CONY did not have the resources for an executive director until 1975. Klos was the first paid staff for the organization at that time.”
Bennett takes pride on the work he has done for the association, which represents 190 campgrounds, RV parks and resorts.
“I think one of the things we’ve been able to achieve is much better communication for our members,” he said. “We have several computer systems now in place to aid in timely communications. We have printed and electronic newsletters. People can register for things online, pay dues online. We’ve got a great lobbyist in Greenberg Traurig who is keeping us at the forefront with the governor’s executive orders. We have COVID-19 information on our membership website.”
CONY’s campground directory has also improved. “When I started, it was on newsprint,” Bennett said. “Now we have a perfect bound four-color directory.”
CONY also rebranded itself for consumers and created the “Camp New York” name and created a new logo, spelled out in retro-type lettering, which has more consumer appeal than Campground Owners of New York, which is obviously targeted at campground owners.
CONY has also been working to improve the educational content of its conferences. “We have brought in some terrific speakers,” Bennett said, citing Kizer and Bender for retail and marketing and Ron Rosenberg, an award-winning professional speaker and small business marketing coach.
CONY also commissioned an economic impact study in 2016, which the association uses to support its government outreach and marketing efforts.
The association also now offers a legal hotline though Christine Taylor, a lawyer with Towne, Ryan & Partners, P.C. in Albany, N.Y. Members receive a half-hour of free legal advice each year — and can pay for more if they need it.
CONY offers its members discounts on propane and other products, including Sherwin Williams paints and cellphone service provided by ATT, Sprint and Verizon. While the association does not have a music licensing program, park operators can get it through the Northeast Campground Association (NCA), of which CONY is an affiliate.
All CONY members automatically become members of NCA, which has 974 campground members from nine Northeastern states. NCA’s size enables it to obtain product and service discounts and maximize the economies of scale for tradeshows and other events that small state associations would have difficulty doing on their own.
While Bennett spends Monday through Friday working for CONY, he typically spends his weekends working at his family’s campground.
“I do a little bit of everything,” he said, “from lawn mowing to trimming trees. I take care of the accounting, but I try to stay out of the office and the day-to-day office work to have a change of pace. I like to be the ambassador for the park. I like to talk to guests, find out why they chose us and why they came, what they would like to see improved at the campground. I also feel when I speak to the campers, I can get the heartbeat of what we do. I’m the pancake chef at times. It’s a nice change of pace from the CONY office, which is sometimes desk oriented.”
Conesus Lake Campground currently has 143 campsites and six rental units, including two primitive cabins and four park models. About 65% of the park’s campsites are allocated for seasonal camping, with the remainder for overnight use.
Bennett said he fell in the love with the campground business at an early age.
“I guess, growing up in it, I just enjoyed seeing where people are coming from. You get to meet people from all over the world in your little part of the world,” he said.
Campers generally are in a good mood when they arrive at his family’s park, which adds further enjoyment to the experience of hosting them. “They’re pretty happy people when they come into a campground,” he said. “They are getting ready to have a vacation or to stay at a seasonal campsite.”
While the Finger Lakes Region has always been a popular tourist destination in New York, Bennett said the area is even more popular now because of the extensive development of wineries in the area.
“We have over 400 wineries now. It’s like Napa on the East Coast,” Bennett says with a laugh, noting that the Finger Lakes Region is the corporate headquarters of Constellation Brands Inc., a leading international producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits with operations in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy. Its imported brands include Corona Extra, Corona Light, Corona Premier, Modelo Especial, Modelo Negra, and Pacifico, while high-quality premium wine and spirits brands including the Robert Mondavi brand family.
The Finger Lakes Region has also capitalized on its beer and wine industries with special annual events that bring in lots of tourists, such as the Finger Lakes Wine Festival, which is normally held every July, and the Finger Lakes Beer Festival, which is held every October.
Interestingly, while wine events have helped further stimulate tourism into the Finger Lakes Region, the campground business in Upstate New York is still invariably seasonal in nature because of the northern winter.
But Bennett has found a unique way to keep some of his key campground staff members employed on a year-round basis. Three years ago, he and his wife, Lisa, acquired Anderson’s Brochure Distribution Service, which distributes state campground directories to over two million consumers each year at 26 consumer RV, camping and travel shows across the country, mostly from January to March.
“There is a tremendous amount of work associated with Anderson’s Brochure Distribution Service,” Bennett said, adding that he stores each state’s printed campground directory at the warehouse in Pittsford, N.Y.
“We’ll take 6,000 to 7,000 pounds of printed material to a single show,” he added.
For now, however, Bennett’s top priority is COVID-19.
“With some of the non-member phone calls that I have taken through this pandemic I’ve been able to see how those guys are very ill-informed compared to a typical CONY member,” he explained.
The good news, he said, is that campground operators who have not previously been members of CONY are now recognizing the value of joining the association.
“We are seeing a resurgence in membership,” he said. “We’ve picked up five or six new members since the pandemic started. I think they are seeing that a trade association is valuable for what the membership dues are. As I often like to say, CONY doesn’t cost to be a member, it pays.”
On a personal note, Bennett and his wife, Lisa, a high school science teacher, live in Pittsford, NY. Their sons are active in the camping business working at the campground and representing the industry by distributing directories and brochures for Anderson’s Brochure Distribution Service at outdoor and camping/RV shows throughout the U.S. and Canada. Their oldest son, Winston, a rising senior, is a Division 1 soccer goalie and finance major at Siena College in Albany, N.Y. Their youngest son, Mason, is a rising senior at Pittsford Mendon High School, is an offensive lineman for the Pittsford Panthers and an avid woodworker.
