Story and photos by Kathy Tretter
While some may think business is business, pleasure is pleasure and never shall the twain meet — when your business is pleasure it’s an entirely different story.
And, in this day and age, with unemployment in Indiana at a low 2.2 percent, providing a bit of pleasure could make all the difference in keeping valuable employees content.
That was just one of the messages conveyed on Friday when Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari hosted a Corporate VIP event. Over 100 businesses with several representatives apiece converged from far and near to enjoy the day and learn more about both the parks and how they can help businesses host a corporate event.
Leah Koch-Blumhardt, who is a fourth generation parks owner and current Director of Communications, explained these parks have always been a family affair. Founded in 1946 by Louis B. Koch as a retirement project, she recalled the rapid expansion that started in the 1990s.
“Splashin’ Safari has consistently been ranked among the top water parks in the nation,” Koch-Blumhardt explained, usually first or second but always in the top five. With the water park, the Wildebeast has been ranked number one in the world for the past decade; the Mammoth is the largest water ride in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records and the Cheetah Chase (the first launched water coaster in existence) was rated the top new ride by USA Today in 2020.
The three wooden roller coasters are also ranked in the top 10 and Holiday World has been honored as the cleanest amusement park for decades.
President and CEO Matt Eckert explained the parks offer world class attractions and he takes great pride in the value. For him the word “family” is central to operations, being families of every configuration who visit, as well as the family of employees. “The biggest asset is our people.”
He noted that according to park surveys, employees love heading to Holiday World and Spashin’ Safari for company outings, which leads to better collaboration and teamwork for better work/life balance.
Spencer County Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kathy Reinke piggy-backed on that by pointing to the projected global shortfall of 85 million employees by 2030, which would lead to $8.5 trillion in unrealized annual revenue.
In other words, keep employees happy and productive.
Al Keller, who is director of sales at the parks and who organized this event, thanked everyone for coming and told them, just before sending them through the lunch line in the picnic grove, “I’ve got the coolest job in the world.”
