b'Supplier Insightsfrom page 14 Houchens noted.All of the touch points a camper would them is three points where any kid, asThe average profit for a campground have their hands on is constructed of young as 3 years old, can pick somethingin the bucket than four smaller bags, and owner per bag is around $7.50, he said.composite materials.up and go: Oh, look, mom or dad, I foundthey get over two pounds of gems in that Houchensnotedthatthecompany We actually have sluices out there that this,saidHouchens.Itcouldbeabucket. can set up a mining sluice in one day with are 20-plus years old, Houchens high- sharks tooth, it could be a piece of pyrite,Installed sluices range from $12,000 all some light help from campground em- lighted. There is maintenance that needs or fools gold, a crystal point or an arrow-the way up to $19,500, but all come with ployees.to be done, but if an owner takes good care head. Its something thats easily identifi-$6,500 in product.They are built to ensure that the water of their sluice it will last a very long time.able that they recognize even at 3 and 4The customer is able to make money flowing through the units never touches The process of discovery is great and years old.backontheirinvestmentrightaway, any wood or metal to improve durability. in most of our bags what we try to give www.coldrivermining.com WCMHialeah Meter Co. Continues to Adapt, Innovate Even During COVID CrisisBusiness has been good, said Lisa under the social distancing guidelines.ThecompanyrecyclesSenior, president of Hialeah Meter Co. She stated that the inside sales staff around35,000electricbased in Hialeah Fla.and customer service has been working watt-hourmeterseveryAlthough the energy out of their home offices to continue to year from its single loca-service company was social distance and provide a high level tion in Hialeah, a suburb ofdeemedessential,it of service.Miami. The company hashadsomechallenges Im happy to say that everybody on recently expanded its mar-during COVID-19. our team has stayed safe, she said.ket to target solar compa-We have struggled Hialeah Meter Co. has been refur- nieswhoneedthesewith staying open and bishing electrical meters that track en- meters to measure energyoperating in regard to ergy usage for campgrounds since 1954. production and sell excessCOVID-19,Senior Thecompanyalsodistributes power to the grid.Lisa Senior noted. And the good pedestals, power outlets and socket ac- Partofourbusinessnews is, because we have 13,000 square cessories. The meters are sold and used model is getting the metersfoot plant, were able to social distance across the nation in RV parks, camp- out of service from utilityvery well, and so we continue to operate grounds and marinas.companiesandthenbringing them down heretoustorefurbish,ex-plained Senior. Thats onesegment of the market that we serve. every RV park and campground typi-Our campground customers really de- cally will use two different kinds of volt-pend on the EZ Read Meter.ageservices. TheycaneitherhaveaShe explained that these meters are 120-volt two-wire service or a 240-voltsome of the best and most reliable ever three-wire service that this meter plugsmade and are still in high demand. into. The meter is able to be used on ei-Its the one with the easy-to-read ther a 120 two-wire service or 240 three-numbers,Seniorsaid.Itstheold wire service. The RV park can stock justschool odometer. This is the industry one meter in its inventory, as opposedstandard that everyone is used to and to having to buy two different servicestill wants since it came into service in type meters to support the park.the 1970s. The vast majority of the HialeahSenior shared that getting the meters Meter product offerings are availablefrom the utilities to refurbish was tough onitsshoppingwebsiteat over the past year because many utili- www.hialeahmeter.com. Senior said theties were social distancing from contact easy-to-use shopping site has proven awith clients.wiseinvestmentduringthesetoughThese electro-mechanical meters COVID times. are watt hour meters, theyre dinosaurs, Hialeah also distributes a wide vari-but theyre the best thing out there for a etyofnewmeters,GEtransformers,campgroundandanRVpark,she surgeprotectiondevicesandmeterhighlighted.Thereasonisbecause mounting systems.Seniorsaidthebusinessstartedwhen her father-in-law, a World War IINavyveteran,GeneBixby,returnedfrom war and worked for the FloridaPower & Lightutility in South Florida. When he started the business, it wasforRVparks,campgrounds,mobilehome parks, trailer parks and marinasat that time, she said. Sub-meteringbecame a solution for RV parks becauseutility companies only recognize oneaddress per meter, but an RV park hasnumerous different clients staying inthat one park. The company is also a distributor ofMidwestpedestals and equipment. We really love the support that Mid-west gives us with their pedestals, andtheir top producing pedestal is their gal-vanized product that is also a standardin campgrounds across the country,Senior noted. We have a lot of pride in what wedo, she concluded. Were a very di-verse organization. Our company is awoman owned small business. Id say alarge percentage of our employees arewomen. Im from Jamaica originally andcame to the United States to go to uni-versity in South Florida, met a nice guy,and that was it for me. We are lookingforward to a good 2021. WCM32 -May 2021Woodalls Campground Management'