The Daily Star | Denise Richardson

March 22, 2018

 

ONEONTA — A company has opened its manufacturing headquarters in the Oneonta Business Park to employ about 20 workers to make, package and distribute camping equipment for rental sites offered by private landowners upstate and beyond, officials said Thursday.

Tentrr, a privately held firm, works with landowners to set up campsites in rural locations, and the company provides “an expedition tent” and other equipment to make ready-to-use sites. Founded in 2015, the firm had its first camping season in 2016, officials said.

On Thursday, Tentrr held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house at its facility on Corporate Avenue in the town of Oneonta, near exit 13 of Interstate 88.

Local economic development officials long have spoken about attracting manufacturing firms to Otsego County and Oneonta.

“We’re hoping that it’s the first of many to come,” Jody Zakrevsky, chief executive officer of Otsego Now, an economic group that includes the Otsego County Industrial Development Agency, said earlier Thursday.

The company moved into the Business Park on Feb. 1 and set up operations within three weeks, according to James Hanley, director of manufacturing, who said the site met location and building needs.

“I love it,” he said Thursday before the open house.

Oneonta was chosen because of its convenience to other Tentrr locations and possible use as a distribution site, Baxter Townsend, Tentrr director of public relations, said.

Before establishing the Oneonta manufacturing operations, supplies were manufactured on an ad hoc basis, Townsend said, and opening in Oneonta will help keep costs down and scale up the business, which has goals to expand.

“It’s a huge step for us,” Townsend said. Tentrr has about 100 campsites and aims to add 1,000 this year, she said, and expansion plans include establishing campsites on the West Coast.

Employees in Oneonta will be making tent platforms, picnic tables, lounge chairs and other supplies, Townsend said. Some other supplies are made elsewhere in the United States, including the canvas tents, which are manufactured in Denver, she said.

Tentrr has 17 full-time employees and about 20 hourly employees, including local employees, officials said. The Oneonta hiring will continue as the season gears up and the local staff will include drivers, they said.

The company website lists campsites mostly in upstate New York with others in Maine, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, with the season running from mid-May to Thanksgiving.

Michael D’Agostino is founder and chief executive officer of Tentrr. Development and advertising teams are headquartered in New York City, Townsend said.

Zakrevsky said he met with Tentrr officials late last year and helped them arranged to lease a 19,200-square-foot building in the Business Park. The building is owned by Michael Mano and formerly was occupied by Siemens Medical Solutions, Zakrevsky said.

Zakrevsky said Tentrr officials also looked at a site for operations in Schoharie County.

Tentrr officials were interested in the Oneonta site because of access to Interstate 88 and, in considering possible expansion, access to the railroad, Zakrevsky said, and the current Tentrr location has railroad access that could be rehabilitated.

Otsego Now has been discussing possibilities of constructing a building for Tentrr at the Business Park or as part of the redevelopment project underway at the Oneonta Rail Yard in the city of Oneonta, Zakrevsky said. Company officials have spoken about possibilities of shipping products to the West Coast as the firm grows, he said.

“We’re very optimistic,” Zakrevsky said. Tentrr has filled out an application for site plan approval with the town, though the Business Park has pre-permitted status, he said.

Also, Otsego Now has submitted a pre-application through the state Office of Community Renewal for a grant, initially requested at $200,000, to help Tentrr with capital needs, Zakrevsky said. The award must be made through a municipality, he said, and the town of Oneonta has agreed to be the supporting agent.

Robert Wood, Oneonta town supervisor, said Tentrr seems like a “great company” with a good business plan.

“I’m really excited to have a new business, especially a manufacturing company, coming to town,” Wood said Thursday morning.

Tentrr arranges with private landowners, called camp-keepers, to set up sites with a large canvas tent on a wooden platform and a queen-sized cot. The site also can be outfitted with two lounge chairs, a dry food storage container, and outdoor toilet, an outdoor sun shower, a stone fire pit and a picnic table

The Tentrr website presents links to campsite properties to rent, with prices listed such as $100 to $140 per night. Camp-keepers offer sites in the area, including in Andes, Bovina, Hancock, East Branch, Colchester and Walton.

Campsites are offered for a single group, such as a family or friends, on private parcels within a 30-minute drive of outdoor activities, according to the Tentrr website.

Property owners could earn $5,000 or more annually by becoming a Tentrr camp-keeper, the website said, and property owners could boost rental income by offering extras, such as selling firewood or fresh produce.

Camp-keepers pay a membership fee of $1,250 upfront and receive 80 percent of the nightly rate, the site said, or a $1,500 membership fee paid over time, with Tentrr keeping the nightly rental rate until the fee is paid. The camp-keeper sets the rental price, according to the company.

The firm has marketing offices in Kingston, New York; Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania; and Saco, Maine; Townsend said.