Chris Rademacher, current owner of the Des Moines West KOA Holiday in Iowa, will be joining the Kampgrounds of America System Development staff as the new franchise development manager.
Rademacher and his wife, Jamie, bought the Des Moines West KOA Holiday in 2011 and turned the park into one of the top award-winning campgrounds in the 524-location KOA system in North America. Leveraging KOA’s brand, procedures and practices, the Rademachers were able to quadruple income at the Des Moines West KOA Holiday in the nine years they have owned the park.
“We benefitted greatly by being able to learn from the best of the best in the KOA family,” Rademacher said. “We truly believe it’s the knowledge, passion and drive that’s present at KOA that helped us to succeed, and I’m looking forward to helping independent campground owners integrate their parks into the award-winning Kampgrounds of America system.”
In his new role, Rademacher will work directly with independent campground owners who choose to join the KOA system, and owners working to construct new campgrounds.
Rademacher, who will begin his new duties with KOA on Feb. 1, said the Des Moines West KOA Holiday is currently listed for sale.
“We are so thrilled to be adding Chris to our KOA system development team,” said KOA Director of Franchise Development Larry Brownfield. “He brings a wealth of campground operational knowledge and is a fantastic judge of both properties and people. I know Chris will aid us immensely in bringing the right parks with the right owners into the KOA system.”
Rademacher graduated from Maryville College in Maryville, Tenn., in 2000 with degree in business and organizational management. He was a regional vice president at Primerica from 2000 to 2003, where he orchestrated recruitment, sales training, and the sale of financial services under the Citigroup umbrella.
After a brief stint in automotive sales, he served as a branch manager for Enterprise Rent-A-Car from 2004 to 2006, and as a sales executive for Enterprise Fleet Management from 2006 to 2008.