Great Outdoor Cottages opens for business
Great Outdoor Cottages celebrated its grand opening Dec. 8 in Sussex County's Delaware Coastal Business Park near Georgetown.
A ribbon cutting was conducted by the Greater Georgetown Chamber of Commerce. And already, the company is looking to expand and hire more employees. Chief Operating Officer Mike Scheid said the goal was to build and sell 200 park models in 2022, and they have built 315 so far this year and will reach 345 cottages by year's end.
Park models – 350-square-foot, self-contained, wheeled cottages – are popular rental units in campgrounds. The cottages can sleep up to six people and include storage space, a full kitchen, a walk-in shower, a full bathroom and a back porch.
Great Outdoor will serve areas east of the Mississippi from Maine to Georgia.
“Making the move from Millsboro to [Georgetown] was nothing short of a miracle,” Scheid said. “Georgetown is a great fit for us, and we've hit the right market at the right time. Our park models are top-notch quality and second to none.”
Lead investor Todd Burbage, the CEO of parent company Blue Water Development, said his company does business throughout the United States. “I can tell you, Sussex County is open for business. The county is friendly to business,” he said.
He added park models or cottages could be the answer to the affordable housing issue in the county. “We would like to help solve the housing issue and plan on working with you,” he told county officials in attendance.
Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson said the company could have relocated anywhere, but they took a leap of faith and chose the county's business park. “We appreciate their investment in the county,” he said.
Burbage met with Lawson and Sussex County Director of Economic Development Bill Pfaff to look at the site. “He called back a week later and said ‘we are in’ and 1.5 years later, they are here open for business,” Lawson said.
The company has hired 110 employees and would like to hire 150.
Great Outdoor Cottages, with its 50,000-square-foot manufacturing building, is the fourth business in the new section of the Delaware Coastal Business Park, owned and developed by the county. It's also the largest employer in the new section.
During the ceremony, company officials presented a $10,000 donation to Clothing Our Kids, a nonprofit that provides new clothing to every county elementary and middle school student who is in need.
Scheid said they have selected the organization as their charity to support with more donations in the future.
About Blue Water
Blue Water Development, founded and owned by Todd Burbage and his father, Jack, owns, manages and develops campgrounds, hotels, marinas and attractions in 18 states. Among the company's properties are several on Delmarva, including Fenwick Inn, Aloft in Rehoboth Beach, Bay Resort in Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach Ocean Suites, Frontier Town near Ocean City, Jellystone Park near Lincoln, and Sun Outdoors Rehoboth Bay and Sun Outdoors Chesapeake Bay.
