May - Albany Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce

Making wavesThe tide is high for Aquatic Development Group, Inc.In the world of waterpark design andconstruction, Aquatic DevelopmentGroup, Inc. (ADG) doesn’t just go withthe flow, it creates a major splash.With more than 50 years of industryexperience, the Cohoes-based company’sproducts and services have been installedin more than 4,000 aquatic facilitiesworldwide, including Six Flags properties,Dollywood’s Splash Country WaterAdventure Park in Tennessee and DisneyWorld. That’s a lot of ways to have fun inthe water.“We’d like to think that no matterwhat we’re producing, it leads to leisureand fun for families,” said Kenneth Ellis,president and CEO. “Last year, more than80 million people visited water parks inthe United States. Family fun is huge, andparents will sacrifice in other places tomake sure they have fun with their families.This is good for our business.”Summer is just around the corner ––according to the calendar, at least –– andas families flock to waterparks to enjoythe warm weather, ADG makes sure thatpeople get wet, stay cool and have a blast.16 | acchamber.org | techvalley.orgDiving headfirstADG dates back to the 1950s, when Ellis’father, Herb, worked as a commercialsalesperson for Paddock Pools in Albany.“He sold pools to resorts in Vermontand New Hampshire, then he ran the salesgroup and eventually became companypresident,” Ellis said. “When PaddockPools moved to South Carolina, my fatherbought all of its construction companiesin the 1970s and changed the name toAquatic Development Group during thelate 1980s.”That was when Ken joined thecompany and started branching out intoless traditional opportunities, such as wavepools, water slides and lazy rivers.“We were the premier swimming poolbuilder in the country, and we had a lot ofexperience with larger scale projects,” Ellissaid. “So we started building water featuresfor the growing waterpark industry, and webegan producing a line of products that wecould manufacture ourselves.”As ADG grew, it needed more spacefor its operations; in 1990, the companyrelocated from Railroad Avenue in Albanyto a larger facility on Green MountainDrive in Cohoes. “We have 75,000square feet, with 45,000 square feet formanufacturing and 30,000 square feet foroffice space, and we employ between 100and 110 workers,” Ellis said.With its two seamlessly integrateddivisions of project services and equipmentsystems, ADG has carved out a niche onthe waterfront of aquatic recreation.“People ask who our competitors are,but there isn’t a single company that offersthe breadth of products and services thatwe do,” said Ellis. “That’s good and bad.In all of the different markets in which wework, we want to make sure we’re gettingour fair share.”ADG’s systems often complement eachother, working together to maximize theversatility of facilities.Its WaveTek® wave systems,have been installed in more than 400commercial and recreational pools aroundthe world, transforming calm waters intoturbulent waves of wet, wild fun.