BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Telegraph Staff Writer
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS—The Keystone Heights RV Park general manager said that after only two years, his park has been designated as one of the country’s top 100 by the Good Sam Campground Network.
Ken Loyd told the Keystone Heights Rotary Club that when Good Sam notified him of the honor, it said it had never before named a park two years old or younger to its top 100 list.
“It was quite an honor,” Loyd said.
Good Sam evaluates each campground in three categories: campground and RV park, restroom and showers and visual appearance and environmental quality.
The Keystone Heights RV Resort is one of only nine RV parks in Florida, with a perfect score in all three categories.
Tripling in size
Loyd said the resort opened in 2020 with 192 sites and now has 550 operating sites. He added that 705 sites will be operating by mid-May, more than tripling its original number of lots.
He also said 394 of the park’s residents live there year-round.
Loyd said that after the latest sites are completed in May, he plans to upgrade some of the park’s original sites.
“Phases 1 and 2 got a little bit neglected while Phase 3 was being built,” he said. “We were growing so fast, so we’re going to go back and do some clean up and touch up and make Phases 1 and 2 look pretty again.”
Loyd also said the facility broke new ground last week by selling its first model home: a small modular home on one of the park’s lots.
Helping local businesses
Loyd said he encourages the park’s residents to follow his example in buying local.
“It’s been a practice of mine as the general manager of the park doing most of my business here in town,” he said. “I buy all my lawn equipment from Lake Area Small Engine, so we try to build the economy here in the area as much as we possibly can.”
He added that the park hosts a coffee and doughnuts social for residents and that local businesses often meet with them during those events to build relationships with residents.
“I know the residents have been very receptive to (local businesses),” he said. “We’ve had several vendor-type events for local vendors to come and set up, and we’ve had an excellent turnout when we’ve done that. So, there’s a lot of great opportunities for the local businesses to come in there and interact with the residents.”
They’re looking for activities,” Loyd said of the park’s campers. “They’re looking for nice day trips; they’re looking for nice restaurants. They’re looking for nice grocery store facilities to get them what they need without driving to Gainesville or Jacksonville. They’re always looking for new things and get very excited when they see news like Popeye’s building in Keystone Heights.”
Leading the RV industry
Loyd said he started in the grocery business at age 19 and worked in the industry until 12 years ago when the business started to change, and his employer wanted to convert his job to part-time.
He said he got into the recreational vehicle business while staying at an RV resort in Jacksonville.
“The general manager followed me to my site and said, you’re our marketing director, and that’s the end of the story. We need one, and you’re it,” recalled Loyd. “That’s how I got into the industry.”
After advancing to assistant general manager at the park, Loyd joined the Keystone Heights operation in 2020.
Not long after joining the industry, Loyd was elected to the board of the northeast region of the Florida RV Trade Association. He was then elected to the Florida and Alabama Campground Association board and is now statewide president of the Florida RV Trade Association.
Loyd said he is the first non-RV dealer to lead the Florida RV Trade Association in its 40-year history.
“I’m very proud of that,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in the fact that they felt comfortable enough in my ability to run the organization to put me in charge.”
Loyd said the association’s primary goals are to monitor and influence legislation that affects the industry, and to provide legal support, training and networking to RV dealers and suppliers.
He said the association also polices its members when some get out of line.
Loyd recalled that when the economy was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, many RV manufacturers in Elkhart, Indiana ramped up manufacturing before their suppliers were ready. As a result, manufacturers started shipping incomplete RV units to dealers, planning to have the dealers complete the units when supplies became available.
“They didn’t have the cabinets, or they didn’t have the refrigerators or whatever, and then they were letting the dealers finish them at the dealership,” he said.
Loyd said that some dealers failed to tell buyers that the units for sale were incomplete until after deals were closed.
“I heard several horror stories about people who camped two or three times a month, traded their camper in, and then when they came for the closing, they got told, well, your RV’s not ready yet. It’ll be ready in about three months,” Loyd said. “So they went from an RV that they could readily go camping in anytime they wanted, to having to sit and wait for their new RV to be completed. It put a little bit of a black eye on some of the dealers that were doing that.”
Loyd said the Florida RV Trade Association reigned that practice in within Florida, requiring full disclosure to buyers.
More growth coming
Loyd said his company plans to open an RV dealership and consignment facility on the southeastern corner of County Road 21B and State Road 100.
He added that the RV park’s main entrance may be moving from its current spot on CR 21B to State Road 100 toward Starke.
“I’m sure you’ve all seen our construction entrance there on 100,” he told club members. “The proposal that we’ve put together has (the main entrance) at a crest (in the highway) before you go around that turn and get to our construction entrance (traveling toward Starke).”
Loyd said he proposed putting the entrance at the crest to maximize visibility.
“Our understanding is we’re going to have to put acceleration and deceleration lanes in,” he added. “We’re going to have to put turn lanes in. We’re prepared to do all that. We just need to get the final approval, and so far, everything is moving forward for us to be able to do that.”
He added that the facility plans to install a Top Tracer golf driving range and is talking to the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office about a shooting range on the RV park’s property.
Loyd also said he is looking at building a small retail facility within the park that might include a general store with snacks and camping supplies, a nail salon, a fitness facility, and a dog grooming and daycare operation.
“We’ve talked to Pet Paradise and gotten some ideas from them as far as there’s a right way to put it in and the right facilities to have at the moment,” he said.
In the middle of everywhere
Loyd recalled that during a recent RV show in Tampa, one man asked him why he was working at a park in Keystone Heights, which he claimed was in the middle of nowhere.
Loyd told the man the Lake Region is an easy drive to St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Daytona and Gainesville.
“Either way, you’re an hour, hour-and-a-half to get to the ocean, Loyd added. “You’ve got it backwards. We’re not in the middle of nowhere. We’re in the middle of everywhere.”
