Campground Industry ‘Visionary Leader’ Bud Styer Passes – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
The North American campground business has lost Bud Styer, a one-of-a-kind entrepreneur who mentored and inspired private park operators in Wisconsin and across the country to believe in themselves for nearly 50 years.
Styer died of a massive heart attack on Friday, April 11. He was 72.
“Bud Styer will always be remembered as a visionary leader in the camping and RV park industry,” said Lori Severson, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of Campground Owners (WACO). “He touched more lives and gave more to this industry than anyone will ever know. He will forever remain in my heart.”
WACO presented its first-ever President’s Award to Styer in 2022 in recognition of his more than four decades of service to the industry. Styer not only served on both the WACO and OHI boards, but volunteered his time, talents and insights at countless industry conventions for WACO, OHI and the Campground Owners Expo (COE), which he co-founded with Severson in Branson, Mo., in 2021.
Styer initially worked as a self-employed building contractor who remodeled homes before going into the campground business at the age of 25 with the purchase of his first campground. Private park operators and developers sought Styer’s advice because he was brutally honest with his recommendations, many of which he learned through the school of hard knocks.
“I can tell you in those 40 years everything you could do wrong I’ve done,” Styer told Woodall’s Campground Magazine in a 2022 interview. “But that’s how you become a professional in every field. People trust what I have to say. I’ve spent my own money to find out what works and what doesn’t. I didn’t lose somebody else’s money. I come from the real world of experience.”
That experience included owning and operating several family campgrounds throughout the course of his career and sharing his accumulated wisdom with both existing and aspiring park operators. Severson said Styer’s hands-on expertise has been instrumental in transforming campgrounds across Wisconsin into thriving destinations.
His company, Bud Styer & Associates, LLC, offered comprehensive consulting services, including marketing, operations training and campground improvement strategies aimed at empowering campground owners and aspiring entrepreneurs to achieve their business goals.
“I can honestly say, I would not be here in this time and space without Bud,” said Joanne Gauthier, of Hickory Hills Campground in Edgerton, Wis. “I remember the golf cart ride when he said, ‘You guys should buy this place.’ The fact that ‘he’ thought I could own and run a campground was all I needed to hear. I will forever be grateful to Bud for seeing my potential, for knowing I could do this, even when I wasn’t so sure. He was an amazing cheerleader, teacher, mentor and friend. It’s not often in this life that you find a person with a heart like Bud Styer.”
Laurie and Greg Adams issued a statement saying their lives were never the same after Styer came into the picture.
“Greg and I met him in 2008, and from that point on, our lives were forever changed,” Laurie wrote. “We are still deeply in his debt for everything he did for our family, especially as he guided us through the purchase and running of our campground. He lived, breathed, and fully immersed himself in the campground industry. In 2014, he sold us Baraboo Hills Campground and welcomed us like family. He opened our eyes to a life of travel, innovation, and business. He didn’t just show us what to do — he always showed the why. That kind of wisdom is rare.”
The Adams have since sold their campground, but remain grateful to Styer.
“He created a family out of all his campground employees and the owners of the campgrounds he sold,” Laurie wrote, adding, “(Bud’s) legacy will Iive on forever.”
Severson said Styer was always eager to help anyone who needed help. In fact, he couldn’t wait to help her when she purchased Champions Riverside Resort in Galesville.
“When, after years of managing the Wisconsin Association of Campground Owners, we decided to buy a campground — Bud called me every day to see when the closing was,” Severson recalled, adding, “The Monday after (closing), he showed up with his tractor and equipment and started working on fixing our place up!”
In addition to providing park operators with business advice, Styer was active in government affairs.
“WACO was so very blessed to have Bud advocating for us at the Capitol and working to make things make sense for campground owners in Wisconsin,” Severson said. “He was very much the man behind the immunity law getting passed in 2016. He paraded through the halls of the capital in his signature Hawaiian shirts until they got to know his name. One of the legislators, Andre Jaque, plans to do an adjournment for Bud at the next legislative session. He touched so many lives and was there any time you needed him.”
Styer was also active on state government committees for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Governor’s Small Business Committee, where he advocated for policies that benefit campground operations and outdoor recreation.
Severson said she is grateful to have had Styer working with her to co-found the Campground Owners Expo, an annual event in Branson in early December that is designed to provide education, networking, and resources to campground owners, particularly in regions lacking strong industry associations.
“The expo has become a vital platform for sharing knowledge and fostering community among campground professionals. This was a dream of Bud’s and I was so thrilled to have him see that dream come true. He always loved that location and knew a lot could be learned from those business owners who operate much like family campgrounds,” she said.
Funeral arrangements for Styer are pending.
