RICHARD L. RAGATZ, Ph.D. is President of Ragatz Associates. His academic background includes a Bachelor's degree (1961) and a Master's degree (1963) from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. degree in City and Regional Planning (1969) from Cornell University.
In addition to his consulting activities, he was an Assistant Professor of Housing and Design at Cornell University (1966-69), where he taught courses in Housing Market Analysis. For 12 years he was an Associate Professor (1969-74) and Full Professor (1974-81) of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Oregon where he taught courses in Housing Marketing Analysis, Housing Planning, Social Issues in Planning and Planning Theory. He was Department Head from 1969 to 1974. He was a member of the American Society of Planning Officials, the American Institute of Planners, and the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Dr. Ragatz has been very active in the primary trade association representing the resort industry - the American Resort Development Association. He joined ARDA in 1969, the year it was formed. In 1987, 1989, 1995 and 2006, he was given special awards by ARDA for outstanding contributions to the resort industry. The 1995 award was Industry Leader of the Year. The 2006 award was the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.
He also has been active in the Urban Land Institute, having cooperated with that group on a major national study in 1974 on the resort real estate industry, and a member since 1972.
His Ph.D. dissertation from Cornell in 1969 is recognized as the first national study on vacation homes ever conducted in the United States. He updated the study in 1974 for the President's Council on Environmental Quality, in 1977 for the U.S. Forest Service, in 1990 for the National Association of Realtors, and in 1993 for the American Resort Development Association.
Since 1969, he has published more than 50 articles on resort development for academic journals and trade magazines. He also has delivered more than 350 speeches on resort development at conferences held throughout the world.
Dr. Ragatz has achieved international recognition as the leading feasibility analyst and market researcher in the resort real estate industry. He has been involved in more than 2,500 studies in virtually every state and over 70 countries. Clients include most major developers and lenders in the resort industry.
Areas of specialty include feasibility analysis, consumer and product research, economic impact analysis and project evaluation.
TRACY RAGATZ is Vice President of Ragatz Associates. She has a Bachelor's Degree (1989) from the University of California, San Diego, and a MBA from San Diego State University (1995). Tracy has been associated with the firm for over 10 years, and assumed her present position in 2008.
Tracy is responsible for feasibility analyses and market research (with emphasis on consumer surveys). She has worked on over 175 assignments throughout the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean, etc. She has directed four global surveys of the fractional interest, private residence club and destination club industries, as well as two national surveys of resort timeshare owners and non-buyers for the American Resort Development Association.
Prior to joining Ragatz Associates, Tracy had a 10-year career in the health and fitness industry where she held marketing and sales management positions with LA Fitness and 24-Hour Fitness.
ROBERTA CORDELL is Vice President of Ragatz Associates. Roberta has been associated with the firm for seven years, and assumed her present position in 2009.
As Vice President, Roberta has worked on over 200 such studies throughout the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean and Canada. She is primarily responsible for the field research components, and has gathered extensive experience for all types of products in the resort real estate industry. Roberta has worked on six national surveys of the fractional interest, private residence club and destination club industries, as well as on six national conferences on the topics.
Prior to joining Ragatz Associates, Roberta had a seven-year career in the technology industry, with management positions at Qualcomm, Ericsson and Vectron. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Fort Lewis College in Colorado (1987).
FRED SCHUSTER of FGS Realty Advisors has formed a strategic alliance with Ragatz Associates to assist the company with its two new business initiatives: 1) a website property advertising service called Resort and Hotel Showcase; and 2) providing finance-related consulting services. In addition, Fred is working as the Broker-Officer for Ragatz Associates sister company - Ragatz Resort Realty Inc., a Resort Real Estate brokerage company.
Fred formed FGS Realty Advisors, Inc. in 2004 after having an illustrious 8 year career with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. Fred was part of the start up management team of the Company's Residential Properties division where he performed his role as Corporate Director of Finance. Mr. Schuster also played a large part in the overall strategic planning and management of the division.
From 1988 - 1995, Fred was Corporate Controller for The Naiman Company/Sporting Clubs of America, a national commercial real estate and health club development and management company. Fred's responsibilities included all finance related activities for over 3 million square feet of real estate under management.
Fred began his career in 1984 with Kenneth Leventhal & Company, CPA's, where he was Senior Auditor for many well known and established real estate clients. He earned his CPA with the State of California in 1986. He is also a licensed Real Estate Broker with the California Department of Real Estate.
Fred received his Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration (Accounting emphasis) at San Diego State University in 1984.
email: fschuster@san.rr.com
Len Silverfine and Richard Ragatz have partnered in the development of Ragatz Intelligent Suite, to provide the expertise and tools the resort industry needs to be effective in today's market.
Len has 40+ years of marketing and sales experience. His company, THE BIG IDEA CO., directs and supervises marketing and sales for developers in No. America, Europe and Mexico.
Len?s marketing training and appreciation for the role of intelligence in empowering effective strategy began with his early work experiences with Procter & Gamble, General Foods and Revlon. Len went on to develop an acclaimed marketing seminar for McGill University (Montreal) and the Univ. of Vermont. Then to form THE BIG IDEA CO. in 1978, where he created award-winning campaigns and world?s record events for Revlon, Swissotels, Wilson Sporting Goods, Princess Hotels, CBS TV and other major companies.
In 1991 Len began consulting for Intrawest Resorts, and joined the company in 2000 to help launch Storied Places, Intrawest?s Private Residence Club. For Storied Places and for Playground, Len designed innovative programs, including the highly successful Storied Places On Call geared to Intrawest?s highest value customers, and Playground?s Asset Tracking Model, designed to give more accountability to the Sales process.
In addition to his involvement with Ragatz Intelligent Suite, Len is actively involved with developers in North America, Europe and Mexico, and delivers popular seminars and workshops entitled ?The Art of Strategic Marketing for Resorts©?. Len also is a frequent speaker and writer of articles on more effective marketing and sales methods.
Email: len@lensilverfine.com
