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Parker News
December 23rd, 2009 Author: Bret Gardella
Santa Claus and the Entrepreneur
As some of you know I’m a big fan of entrepreneurs and their vision. Since we’re only a few days from Christmas, I thought I’d share this inspirational story of how one man used his entrepreneurial spirit to better his town.
Ever hear of Santa Claus, Indiana? Since I have relatives in Indiana I had. But I had no idea how the town got its name and signature business until I came across a story about the town.
Santa Claus, Indiana was so named because of a town meeting that was held on Christmas Eve back in the mid 1800s. The story goes that the townsfolk were meeting to figure out a new name for the town (it was originally called Santa Fe but there was already a Santa Fe, Indiana) and the doors to the meeting room were blown open and sleigh bells could be heard. A child yelled out, “It’s Santa Claus!” and thus the town was named.
It had been 90 odd years and Santa Claus, Indiana had never capitalized on its distinctive name but that changed when in 1946, Louis Koch built a theme park called Santa Claus Land. Louis’ son Bill returned from World War II and decided to take the helm of the park and methodically added to the park to make it a tourist destination. As he added attractions to Santa Claus Land, Santa Claus’ population grew.
With the ongoing success of Santa Claus Land, Bill turned his attention to his hometown and his desire to turn it into a model community. He built the first subdivision appropriately named Christmas Lake Village. He bought a bank and moved it to town giving Santa Claus its first bank. He built the golf course and started the shopping center. And he recruited the towns’ first manufacturer and even donated the land for it to build on. Bill, like his father, was not only an entrepreneur but an economic developer before the title existed.
Bill passed away in 2001 but his family still owns and operates Santa Claus Land now known as Holiday World. Today Holiday World employs more than a thousand people and draws around one million visitors each year. I haven’t mentioned it yet but Santa Claus’ population is only about 2000.
Can you imagine what Santa Claus, Indiana would be like if Louis Koch bought into the skepticism and resistance of some townsfolk and never built his theme park? Or if Bill bought into it and never expanded Santa Claus Land? It would just be another out of the way location with a cute name. Instead it’s a tourist destination that brings in 50,000 visitors per resident per year!
We have entrepreneurs and visionaries here in Parker. Some we’ve met and some we haven’t been introduced to yet. I hope that as we continue to grow our future together we would put aside our personal fears of failure or desires for the status quo and encourage one another to always pursue our dreams.
Merry Christmas to all.
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