Owner Hershey Trust Company Founded 1927 | Founder Milton S. Hershey | |
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Formerly called Hershey Estates (1927-1976)
HERCO, Inc. (1976-1980) Type Privately held corporation Industry Entertainment and hospitality Key people Directors:
Jane Cooper
Sheila E. Dow-Ford
Richard A. Harvey
Eric Henry
Jeffrey W. Jones
Joseph M. Senser
Executive Officers:
William F. Simpson (CEO)
David P. Lavery (CFO)
John Lawn (COO)
Garrett Gallia (VP)
Andrew Helmer (VP)
Jane LaFranchi (VP)
Leslie Ferraro (VP) Brands Hersheypark
The Hotel Hershey Services Amusement park, attractions, hotels, restaurants, meetings Headquarters Pennsylvania, United States | ||
Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company is a privately held corporation based in Pennsylvania. Milton S. Hershey established HE&R in 1927 to distinguish and separate his chocolate manufacturing company from his other business ventures. All his non-chocolate producing businesses were established as Hershey Estates, renamed Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company in 1980.
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Predecessors
In 1894, Milton S. Hershey founded the Hershey Chocolate Company as a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. In 1900, the American Caramel Company offered to purchase the Lancaster Caramel Company for $1 million. Hershey accepted the offer, maintaining ownership of the Hershey Chocolate Company. In 1903, Hershey began purchasing land in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, not far from the family homestead he owned, to create a company town for his proposed chocolate factory. To build the structures of the town, Hershey created a subsidiary company called the Hershey Improvement Company. This company was the predecessor to Hershey Entertainment and Resorts. After the factory was completed and put in operation in 1904, the Hershey Improvement Company turned toward building the town, which included homes, stores and parks. Hershey Park was opened on May 30, 1906, having a dance hall pavilion, band shell for shows, and tennis courts and a baseball field with a grand stand available for sporting events. As the park gained popularity, further improvements were made, such as a grand entrance for the park in 1916.
In 1905, Hershey created the Hershey Trust Company to provide banking to the town of Hershey. In 1909, Hershey and his wife Catherine, who were unable to have children, established the Hershey Industrial School for orphan boys (renamed the Milton Hershey School in 1951). Hershey created a deed of trust establishing a trust fund for the school. He named the Hershey Trust Company as administrator of the school trust. In 1918, three years after Catherine Hershey died, Hershey transferred nearly all of his assets, including his control of the chocolate company, and various other entities, to the school. This made the Hershey Trust Company owner of the Hershey Improvement Company.
In 1920, Hershey experienced financial difficulty following the collapse in sugar futures. Hershey was forced to sign a promissory note from National City Bank to keep the chocolate company in business. Under the terms of the note, National City Bank sent R.J. DeCamp to be on the board of managers, to assume management of the company. DeCamp remained on the board until 1922, when the company settled the debt. During that time period, DeCamp prevented substantial improvements to the park or the town, as it was considered too costly an investment. Once Hershey regained control of the company, this made him realize that he should split his operations such that if the chocolate company ever failed again as it had, it wouldn't directly impact the town as the DeCamp period had.
Hershey Estates
In 1927, the Hershey Chocolate Company was incorporated, became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, and became the Hershey Chocolate Corporation. The Cuban businesses held within the chocolate company were spun out into a privately owned company called Hershey Corporation. All of Hershey’s other non-chocolate business endeavors were incorporated into a separate entity known as Hershey Estates. All three entities were owned by the Hershey Trust Company - under public majority share or privately held ownership. This meant that the Hershey Estates was a distinctly separate company from the chocolate corporation.
In 1933, The Hotel Hershey opened, becoming Hershey Estate's second hotel in Hershey. Hershey Estates was a conglomeration, having ownership of such things as a bakery, electric company, creamery, sports arena, air park, amusement park, and lumber yard. The Estates company maintained this kind of control until the 1960s, when they began selling off public works companies such as the electric company, gave control of the roads they owned to Derry Township, and began closing poor performing divisions. In 1971, Hershey Estates began a large renovation project for Hershey Park, involving new rides, a gate around the park, live acts, and other kinds of entertainment. The park was also renamed Hersheypark.
HERCO / Hershey Entertainment & Resorts
In 1976, the company changed its name from Hershey Estates to HERCO, Inc., because public perception led many to believe that Hershey Estates referred to land that Milton Hershey once owned. In 1980, the name was changed to the current name: Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company (HE&R), a backronym.
Between 1980 and 1987, HE&R began expanding their presence to hotels in the Pocono Mountains, Philadelphia and Corpus Christi, Texas, as well as purchasing Lake Compounce in Bristol and Southington, Connecticut. However, economic and political circumstances caused the Philadelphia and Corpus Christi hotels to struggle substantially. This caused HE&R to experience severe financial difficulties, leading to the promotion of J. Bruce McKinney as CEO of the company. One of his first significant decisions was the controversial move to sell Hershey Lake Compounce.
Ultimately, McKinney successfully lead the company back to financial stability, which led to substantial growth within Hersheypark and at the Hershey Lodge in the mid and late 1990s. McKinney retired in 2000 and was replaced by Scott Newkam.
Newkam served as CEO of HE&R until 2006, when Newkam was replaced by Ted Kleisner. On January 1, 2013, William F. Simpson Jr. replaced Kleisner as the CEO of Hershey Entertainment and Resorts.
Company divisions
There are two main divisions of the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company: Hershey Entertainment Group and the Hershey Resorts Group.