Founded in 2017, SPM is a group of surf, action sport and resort industry veterans.
We bridge the connection between the board-riding culture to the boardroom.
MARK 'SKIP' TAYLOR: PARTNER After a lifetime of surf travel that led to visiting many of the existing surf park facilities through Europe and North America, Skip saw a consistent pattern of enthusiastic investors launching venues without the necessary operational expertise. The vision: To create exceptional guest experiences from unique programming developed around brand partnerships, content generation and a dynamic events calendar. Skip is a seasoned lifestyle marketing executive, offering 25+ years in resort consulting, strategic marketing, resort programming, project management and event/broadcast production. His background includes: Experiential Programming & Lifestyle Marketing Consultant, Replay Resorts; President, Interplay Marketing & Consulting; Executive Producer, Crankworx World Tour; Event Consultant, Whistler-Blackcomb (X-Games, World Ski & Snowboard Festival & the World Snowboard Championships); VP Event Properties at International Management Group (IMG), and; Founder of MASEV Communications.
CATE THERO: PARTNERÂ Cate specializes in marketing & sales and all elements of start-up and on-going operations management for SPM. Her background includes over 20 years of marketing and operating large-scale resorts in the role as corporate VP of Sales & Marketing for a multi-resort ski company, the General Manager of a ski and golf resort, and as the Managing Principal of Resort Consulting Associates. Cate has hands-on experience in accounting systems for retail, rental, F&B, POS and the creation of board-level presentations and reporting. Cate earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, a BS in Finance from Georgetown University, and is a former Vice Chair of the ULI Recreation Development Council.
MALCOLM SCOTT: FOOD + BEVERAGE OPERATIONS Malcolm has spent the past 30 years in the resort Food & Beverage business, operating at every organizational level across multiple resort types, including ski, beach, and golf resorts, water parks, tourist destinations, and Expo 92 in Spain.  From these experiences, Malcolm has mastered Food and Beverage operations from casual to fine dining, beach bars to après ski, food courts to banquets. He can handle catering, commissary, golf carts, coffee shops, sandwich shops, and more. Malcolm also provides technical guidance on the layout, design, and equipment needs for F&B venues.
PAULA BLANCHET: RETAIL OPERATIONS Paula has spent the last 18+ years in retail operations, with a focus on athletic, outdoor and surf apparel. Â Her start at Lululemon headquarters led to the opening of her own franchise in Portland, Oregon. Â Since then she has worked with several retail startups and with key resorts including Turtle Bay and Wai Kai in Hawaii.
GREG KNIGHT: WATER SPORT OPERATIONS Greg has over 25 years of entrepreneurial management of start-up and growth-oriented businesses with an emphasis on water sports, rental operations, and online reservation bookings. Managing teams of 5 to 50, Greg provides leadership, team building, and a highly productive environment resulting in high retention rate of the best people.
ENDORSEMENTS
We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Skip on a very exciting Wavegarden project in Hawaii. His enthusiasm for the sector, combined with his knowledge and experience of surf and sports related development, marketing, events and operations has been very valuable to the project.​
Sean Young, Head of Development Projects
Wavegarden
“Surf Park Management brings clarity, expertise, and genuine surf know-how to the meticulous phases of surf park developments. In working alongside them and our clients, they’ve proven to be a thoughtful and insightful partner that helps translate vision into the practical realities of delivering a world-class inland surf destination”​
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Paul Chutter, President
Whitewater West / Endless Surf
My team and I have worked with Surf Park Management on a number of projects and their skills and backgrounds have enabled us to properly convey the risks of these new projects to our underwriters. This is not an easy thing to do! Skip, Cate and their team bring a level of experience and expertise that adds a whole new level of credibility to these projects..​
Curtis Barton, CEO
Venture Pacific Insurance Services