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December 13, 2021

New competitor coming to Maine's summer camp scene

four boys in a canoe Courtesy / Avid4 Adventure Avid4 Adventure, a Colorado-based chain of summer youth camps, is coming to Maine next year.

Maine’s storied summer camps, which have drawn generations of youngsters and created a $200 million industry, may have some competition in 2022.

Avid4 Adventure, a Colorado-based chain of summer adventure camps, is pitching its tent in Falmouth, according to a news release last week. The company will launch a series of two-week and one-week day camps from June through August, offering mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking and more.

The camps are designed to teach kids ages 5-13 “both basic and advanced outdoor skills as well as how to use sound judgment and problem-solving in all aspects of their lives,” the company said. Campers will use the grounds of the Falmouth Congregational Church as their base and take part in recreation throughout southern Maine.

The new location is one of five nationwide the company is opening this year; others are based in Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis and Seattle.

The Boston and Maine camps are the only ones in the eastern U.S. Other branches offer resident camps or camping expeditions.

Avid4 was founded in 2004 by outdoor entrepreneur Dave Secunda in Boulder, Colo., and has expanded to over a dozen camp locations in that state. A few years ago the chain expanded to California, opening six camps there.

In 2018, the company employed 25 full-time staff and more than 650 seasonal workers, and had revenues of $8 million, according to a Forbes magazine article. Avid4 is a certified B Corporation.

“Expanding to new locations will help provide more kids and families across the U.S. with the opportunity to experience all that Avid4 has to offer,” CEO Paul Dreyer said in the release.

“Our goal is to encourage as many kids as possible to get outdoors, increase confidence and learn new skills in ‘brave spaces’ — spaces that are open, honest, intentional, with risk assessment and management at the forefront.”

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