Outdoor Insurance Services is creating a new segment, Feature Friday. This will be a short write up for a selected company, topic, or just anything of interest! For our first week’s Featured Friday, Texas Camp Company will be our spotlight. They are a startup organization located at the Galveston State Park. OIS worked with Nathan Stevens on his insurance program to launch his business. Nathan is a great client of OIS and his operation will be an asset to Galveston, Texas.

Featured Company:
Texas Camp Company
Nathan Stevens, CTA, CIH
www.texascampcompany.com

Texas Camp Company is a new beach service and equipment rental company offering beach chair and umbrella rentals, kayaks, paddleboards, ebikes, and more! We also offer a range of adaptive paddling equipment, sell bait and fishing tackle, and offer additional retail products to best serve visitors of Galveston Island State Park – one of 89 state parks operated under Texas Parks and Wildlife State Parks Division.

After working for over a decade in the recreation, leisure, and tourism industry, I knew that I wanted to start my own business in the industry and Galveston Island was an ideal location to do so with the proximity to the Houston market, temperate climate, and variety of activities that cater to tourists. However, the opportunities to start a business in this industry, in Galveston, are somewhat limited as you either have (A) major financial resources to build an attraction, (B) an available concessionaire opportunity becomes available on the island, or (C) you work as a boat captain/fishing guide. The concession opportunities are highly competitive and once contracts are awarded, they generally do not become available until the vendor opts to not renew for whatever reason. Many of the current vendors on the island have had their respective spots for over 20 years. As I was working in the public sector for Galveston’s tourism arm, the Galveston Park Board of Trustees, I realized that Galveston Island State Park was planning to fully reopen in summer of 2022 after being partially closed for almost three years while the park underwent major renovations. I decided to look into it further, and it was immediately evident there was a desire to have additional services at the park provided by an outside vendor….so I jumped at the opportunity to start Texas Camp Company.

I immediately got to work, formulating business plans, establishing the company, and compiling documents to turn in to Texas Parks and Wildlife – State Park Division as the contract was part of a governmental bid process. After many months of preparation and submitted plans, the immediate fate of the company hinged on an hour-long interview with the agency. Thankfully, we were fortunate to be awarded the contract and opened on July 29th.

One of the most exciting factors of this business is that, unlike the majority of vendors in Galveston, there is opportunity for year-round revenue at Galveston Island State Park as the park caters to RV campers, as well as day users. Even in the winter, RVs fill the park with folks looking to escape colder climates. The other exciting aspect is that we are the only vendor on the island that has access beach to bay – meaning we are offering services on both sides of the island. All other vendors, besides the ones who specialize in deliveries, are primarily limited to the beachfront and only offer a few products or services. I knew that we wanted to offer a wide range of services and looked to Outdoor Insurance Services to help us get adequate coverage for all activities – something that is immensely important in this industry. Without the help of Outdoor Insurance Services, we wouldn’t be able to operate in the capacity we originally planned, or we’d be operating in a vulnerable state. OIS ensured we had sufficient coverage for all services and I can operate the business on a daily basis with peace of mind as it pertains to risk.

We are surely still figuring things out, but very excited for the future of Texas Camp Company at Galveston Island State Park.