FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- He walks along a gravel path at Class VI River Runners, flip-flops smacking against his heels.
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- He walks along a gravel path at Class VI River Runners, flip-flops smacking against his heels.
Smack. Smack. Smack.
He likes that sound.
No more wingtips or oxfords, not even loafers. The suit-and-tie executive look belonged in his other world.
Smack. Smack. Smack.
"I'm dressed up today," he said. That means cargo shorts and a button-down cotton shirt. "I usually have on a T-shirt."
He's not quite a Jimmy Buffet, but it's close.
Paul Buechler hasn't worn long pants, much less a suit, since May 19, the day he left his job as vice president of finance at McJunkin-Red Man in Charleston.
"It was 40 degrees, and I came in here in shorts. People said, 'Why on Earth are you wearing shorts and a T-shirt?' I said, 'Because I've been waiting on this for 27 years, and because I can.'"
At 52, as president and CEO of a major new holding company, Buechler can enjoy the casual lifestyle of the raft guides who work for him. His highfalutin title won't keep him from whitewater guiding, the sideline occupation he has joyously embraced for more than two decades.
Every Friday evening, he took off his suit and tie, pulled on a pair of shorts and made a beeline for his second job as a raft guide at Class VI. "I went from pushing a pencil to using my arms, a complete opposite of what I did during the week."
In May, he mothballed the business suits and assumed leadership of West Virginia Adventure Resort, a holding company for an $11 million merger of three prominent Fayetteville rafting operations - Class VI, Rivermen and Adventure Mountain River.
He engineered the merger to bankroll an elaborate recreational development program aimed at enticing tourists to turn a whitewater trip into a mini-vacation.
"Rafting has traditionally been known as a one-day product where people stay a night and raft and go home," he said. "We want people to stay at least one more day.
"I want us to be in the same sentence as Snowshoe. People who have a few days to do something can say, 'We can go to Snowshoe or to Adventure West Virginia Resort.'"
Making that happen offers Buechler the best of his two favorite worlds. Now, the seasoned wheeler-dealer can indulge his affinity for finance in the beauty of the New River Gorge.
"I'm the luckiest guy in the world," he said. "I get to live my dream. It's fun up here. I can't wait to get to work."
Work sometimes includes whitewater rafting. If a guide slot suddenly needs to be filled, clients might find themselves paddling with the guy who runs the place.
"I still get out about once a week," he said. "It's good to be out there with your staff. As CEO, I need to understand what the guy on the river thinks is important."
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- He walks along a gravel path at Class VI River Runners, flip-flops smacking against his heels.
Smack. Smack. Smack.
He likes that sound.
No more wingtips or oxfords, not even loafers. The suit-and-tie executive look belonged in his other world.
Smack. Smack. Smack.
"I'm dressed up today," he said. That means cargo shorts and a button-down cotton shirt. "I usually have on a T-shirt."
He's not quite a Jimmy Buffet, but it's close.
Paul Buechler hasn't worn long pants, much less a suit, since May 19, the day he left his job as vice president of finance at McJunkin-Red Man in Charleston.
"It was 40 degrees, and I came in here in shorts. People said, 'Why on Earth are you wearing shorts and a T-shirt?' I said, 'Because I've been waiting on this for 27 years, and because I can.'"
At 52, as president and CEO of a major new holding company, Buechler can enjoy the casual lifestyle of the raft guides who work for him. His highfalutin title won't keep him from whitewater guiding, the sideline occupation he has joyously embraced for more than two decades.
Every Friday evening, he took off his suit and tie, pulled on a pair of shorts and made a beeline for his second job as a raft guide at Class VI. "I went from pushing a pencil to using my arms, a complete opposite of what I did during the week."
In May, he mothballed the business suits and assumed leadership of West Virginia Adventure Resort, a holding company for an $11 million merger of three prominent Fayetteville rafting operations - Class VI, Rivermen and Adventure Mountain River.
He engineered the merger to bankroll an elaborate recreational development program aimed at enticing tourists to turn a whitewater trip into a mini-vacation.
"Rafting has traditionally been known as a one-day product where people stay a night and raft and go home," he said. "We want people to stay at least one more day.
"I want us to be in the same sentence as Snowshoe. People who have a few days to do something can say, 'We can go to Snowshoe or to Adventure West Virginia Resort.'"
Making that happen offers Buechler the best of his two favorite worlds. Now, the seasoned wheeler-dealer can indulge his affinity for finance in the beauty of the New River Gorge.
"I'm the luckiest guy in the world," he said. "I get to live my dream. It's fun up here. I can't wait to get to work."
Work sometimes includes whitewater rafting. If a guide slot suddenly needs to be filled, clients might find themselves paddling with the guy who runs the place.
"I still get out about once a week," he said. "It's good to be out there with your staff. As CEO, I need to understand what the guy on the river thinks is important."
Buechler can thank his intuitive mother for introducing him to his adopted state. "I grew up outside Philadelphia," he said. "I have an identical twin. My mother wanted one of us to go to Virginia Tech and the other to West Virginia. I was chosen for WVU.
"She told me I would like accounting. I did like math. I wanted to have a real skill, and accounting is a very specific way of doing things, so I gravitated to it."
He fell in love with West Virginia immediately, he said. "My first week at WVU, I went to Summersville Lake. I'd never seen anything that beautiful. I decided that someday I'd be back."
In college, he had a summer job with the Chessie System on a 78-man rail gang in the New River Gorge. "I would see the rafting trips every day. I was sweating, and they were bailing and swimming. I thought, 'Boy, I'd sure like to do that someday.'"
Someday arrived after a roommate, a raft guide for Class VI, encouraged him to sign up for guide training. "This is my 26th year."
Buechler started at McJunkin as an entry-level accountant. Over the years, he earned a reputation as a merger whiz, the king of acquisitions and consolidations. "When I started, McJunkin was a $226 million company. When I left, it was well over $2 billion."
Changes at the company prompted his departure. "The majority interest changed. Some of the Wehrles decided to leave. And McJunkin merged with Red Man, its biggest competitor. I liked McJunkin a lot, but I decided it was time to do something different."
Driving home one day, he recalled Class VI managing partners Dave Arnold and Jeff Proctor musing about the benefits of selling out to an employee. "They said that would be the best way to continue the culture. I thought, 'You know what? I'm an employee. I've been doing this for 25 years. I'd be perfect.'"
He didn't realize just how perfect he'd be. A slight but steady dip in rafting numbers started him thinking in the terms he knows best - mergers and acquisitions.
"The number of people going on the New River has been declining ever so slightly for 15 years, maybe by 1 percent," he said. "The white male aged 18 to 45 is declining in this country, and that's our biggest group. There were 16 companies and a lot of them were in a fair amount of debt. The industry has to consolidate."
Starting with Class VI, he checked on six rafting companies to find the best philosophical fit. He settled on Class VI, the No. 2 company; Rivermen, No. 3; and Adventure Mountain River, No. 8.
Then he searched for investors, concentrating on wealthy West Virginians who believe in the importance of tourism. Among those who stepped up were Bill Bright and Michael Wehrle. Next, he needed a big-time bank loan. He found that at United Bank. The entire process took one year.
Now, all eyes are on West Virginia, he said. "The whole rafting industry is looking at us to see how we do."
Plans include 50 to 60 new cabins, paintball, a canopy tour that takes visitors skimming through the trees on a cable, theme weekends and new food and beverage options.
"For people who want to stay an extra day, we will have two or three food venues, from a barbecue cookout to elegant gourmet food."
He hopes to play up the individual strengths of the three merging companies. "We're going to have three brands. Class VI has always been the high brand. We're the only ones on the gorge. Rivermen across the street have a younger clientele with a high-energy bar. The third brand will be an alcohol-free deal for youth and church groups at the campground."
Leaders of the three merged companies will help manage the new operation, he said. "I might have some vision on how to build things and raise money, but they have experience in operations and customer service. They know a tremendous amount of stuff that I'm just learning."
Reach Sandy Wells at san...@wvgazette.com or 348-5173.
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