Erik Busker – Principal / Owner
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS, FINANCIAL ANALYSIS, STRATEGIC PLANNING, MARKETING, OPERATIONS, OUTFITTERS AND GUIDES, HOTELS AND RESORTS, MARINAS, SKI AREAS, CAMPGROUNDS

Expertise: Erik Busker founded The Busker Group with the realization that he, and his team, had all the skills necessary to support private enterprises which operate under contracts/permits on public lands with agencies like the National Park Service, US Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management.

Education: B.A., Univ. of Colorado, 1993
English/Environmental Conservation
Dean’s Honors Scholar

M.B.A., University of North Carolina, 2005
Marketing and Sustainable Enterprise
Fulton Fellow / Kenan-Flagler Fellow

Erik Busker brings to The Busker Group 3 ½ years of experience with the National Park Service. As a GS-12 Concessions Management Analyst (from 2005 to 2008) for the Pacific West Region and briefly for the Intermountain Region. Acting as an internal business consultant, he managed relationships between NPS units in the west and businesses operating within those parks. More specifically:

• Prospectus Development – Project Manager for the competition of several major business opportunities, including campgrounds, hotels, marinas, restaurants, gift shops, fuel/service stations, and guides and outfitters, in National Parks. Process involves thorough area-wide market, financial, and operational analysis, consultation with Parks and local communities, and marketing of the opportunity; culminates with an intense selection process involving scrutiny of bidders’ experience and ability to perform.
• Commercial Services Planning – Project Manager for two plans, which are Environmental Assessments. These NEPA documents involve marketing, public outreach, financial and operational analysis, and intense documentation.
• Asset Management – was appointed to the NPS Concession Program Asset Management Advisory Group, a nationwide think-tank formed to solve the problem of how best to manage NPS assets occupied by concessioners.
• Day-to-day duties include communication up to the Secretary of the Interior, Director of the NPS, or Regional Directorate via written briefs and PowerPoint presentations; communication and consultation with Park Superintendents and management teams; and the management of several outside contractors/consultants.
• Selected to represent Pacific-West Region as a member of the Secretary of the Interior’s Centennial Program Selection team, the biggest NPS project to date, aimed at revamping the entire national park system by 2016.

In 1994, Erik Busker gained employment in Telluride, Colorado with Telluride Outside, Inc. – the resort town’s leading multi-sport outfitter. He quickly became River Manager and Snow Manager, hiring, training, and supervising guides for highly technical tour offerings. Telluride Outside operated under use authorizations from the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. During this time, he was also a seasonal whitewater rafting guide for Appalachian Wildwaters on the famous Class V Upper Gauley River in West Virginia – a unit of the National Park Service. These experiences led to his role with the startup multi-sport outfitter, Alaska Outdoor Adventures (AOA, based in Girdwood, Alaska), serving as General Manager for the company’s first operating season. Mr. Busker worked closely with partners such as Chugach Powder Guides, Alyeska Ski Resort, the Anchorage Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and Anchorage Power Sports. AOA operated its snowmobile tours under permits from the Chugach National Forest and Chugach State Park. He managed all operations, overseeing customer acquisition and satisfaction in the field and office. Additionally, Mr. Busker developed employee standards and training guidelines, performed market analysis, launched new summer and winter products (snowmobile and sea-kayaking tours), designed successful and diverse marketing strategies and partnerships, and implemented operational systems to ensure future efficiency.

After the successful launch of AOA, Mr. Busker returned to Colorado in 1999 where he served as Branch Manager and Trader for Chicago-based Peters Securities. He planned and managed the launch of a new west coast trading office in southern California; as principal, supervised up to six traders in the branch office; specialized in M&A and statistical arbitrage trading, research, and analysis, generating $200K in 2001; served as Communication and Network Manager, supporting 10-25 traders; and served as IT/Trading Floor Liaison, contributing to the design and implementation of proprietary transaction and research software.

Mr. Busker left Peters in 2003 and moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he was the Fulton Fellow and the Kenan-Flagler Fellow at the prestigious Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC. He founded the Kenan-Flagler Chapter of Toastmasters Int’l and was president of the General Management Club. As if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, he also worked as a Business Communications Center Consultant. While in school, he did a summer internship in the Business Resources office at Grand Teton National Park, completing seven independent projects.

After graduate school, he moved to the Bay Area and joined the NPS. As a part time job, he also worked for Evolve Sports, where he was a Marketing and Financial Analyst. In his free time, he enjoys whitewater rafting, fly-fishing, skiing and snowboarding, live music, and traveling.