Paul Fogal is fortunate to work at what he loves.

"It's more of a lifestyle than a business," said Fogal, co-owner of Pocono Whitewater and Skirmish. "This is a pleasant combination of time and money."

Fogal grew up near the New Jersey Shore where his parents owned a hotel.

He was quite familiar with the tourism business when, as a college student, he took a job as a river guide for a rafting company at Ohiopyle State Park near Pittsburgh. As soon as the owner found out he knew a thing or two about making reservations, he was drafted to the desk three days a week.

Fogal said he really wanted to be out on the river, but he ended up getting more hours with three days in the office and three days on the river. He also discovered something about himself.

"I could do this and do it better than this guy," Fogal said.

After graduating with a business administration degree from Monmouth University in New Jersey, he and his brother, Douglas Fogal Jr., asked his father, Douglas Fogal Sr., to help them start a rafting business. His dad said yes.

Finding a site

They looked at several sites throughout the country, but settled on the Poconos. It was close enough to his parents' hotel on the Jersey Shore and they could promote the rafting business to the hotel customers. Plus the Poconos is close enough to the Philadelphia area to draw that population.

In 1976, Pocono Whitewater opened its doors near Jim Thorpe.

Within a few years, the rafting business was successful enough that Fogal's parents sold their hotel and moved to the Poconos. After that, they opened locations in New York, West Virginia and Quebec, Canada.

It was while working in Canada in 1984 that Fogal was introduced to the new phenomenon of paintball. He brought the idea back to the U.S. and opened Skirmish, which now has more than 700 acres of paintball playing fields with two castles, forts, villages, tanks, cargo containers, airplanes, inflatable bunkers and speedball arenas, not to mention natural topography with open fields, dense woods, swamps and creeks.

Over the years, Pocono Whitewater has discontinued running the sites in New York, West Virginia and Quebec and opted to focus on the original Pocono location.

The business has expanded in another direction to include bike rentals and tours, as well as special promotion weekends and discount packages that give the customer two or three activities for one price: battles and paddles; paddles and pedals; and paddles, pedals and battles.

Target is fun

Sure they have tried some ideas that didn't work, but Fogal said, "Our guiding principle has been that we're no different than any other people in the country. If we think it's fun, then other people will, too."

They have an average of 500 employees between the rafting, paintball and biking businesses. About 90 percent work part-time in the summer.

Although seasonal in customer count, the work really goes on most of the year, Fogal said.

Skirmish is open all year round, but the rafting runs from April 1 to Nov. 1, as do the bike rentals and tours.

In fall, they jump into maintenance to repaint and repair floors and buildings. It is also when they begin reviewing what they will need for next season, such as new products, new packages and any new pricing.

Come mid-December, they have it all worked out and the promotional materials are ready to go to the printer in January, which is also when Fogal takes his vacation to somewhere warm, where he can go rafting or kayaking.

"I was a paddler before I started working as a river guide and hopefully I will be healthy enough to continue," he said.

Fogal said he loves the customers.

"People come in expecting to have a good time, and they leave with a smile on their faces," he said.

The one problem the river guides have is when some people spend more time taking pictures than paddling.

Starting out

Governmental regulations can take an extraordinarily long time to get through for a new business.

Fogal is grateful for the relationship he has with the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Army Corps of Engineers and the state Fish and Boat Commission for the Water Release Agreement. The agreement provides a schedule of when water will be released from the dam, which gives him the assurance that there will be enough water in the river for the rafting trips.

His best advice for any budding entrepreneurs is to study the demographics and try to anticipate where the trends are heading.

"You have to try to stay fresh," he said.