Ken Vondriska, Planning & Valuation

Mr. Vondriska is Vice President of Essential Services & Programs LLC and has worked on many past LBA projects. This includes business valuations of Andretti Thrill Park and Funtown/Spashtown. His past experience with leisure projects includes South America, Europe, Middle East, Asia and USA.

He has over 35 years of experience in the leisure and entertainment industry. He is Past President of the International Association for the Leisure and Entertainment Industry and is currently a board member for the Amusement Industry Manufacturers and Suppliers International.

Mr. Vondriska entered the leisure and entertainment industry with Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, California) in 1974 as a maintenance technician. He advanced himself through the ranks and, by 1980, supervisor.

In 1980, he was named Manager of Maintenance at Six Flags over Mid-America (St. Louis, Missouri). During his tenure, he completely revised and updated the preventative maintenance policies and procedures for the amusement park's rides and attractions.

In 1984, Mr. Vondriska was named Director of Operations and Maintenance at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom (Allentown, Pennsylvania).  He developed new operations and maintenance policies and procedures for security, personnel, first aid, maintenance, ride/attraction operations and new construction. He was responsible for design, construction and operation of a new participatory attraction, Thrills Unlimited, which included go karts, speed boats and bumper boats.

From 1988-90, he as Vice President of Facilities for International Theme Park Services, Inc. ("ITPS") (Cincinnati, Ohio), resided in Seoul, Korea to coordinate the maintenance, safety and operations programs for Lotte World, a new $l.3 billion indoor/outdoor theme park.

After returning from Seoul, and eventually achieving the position of Chief Operating Officer, He project managed the following new leisure attractions:

For the past ten years, Mr. Vondriska has been responsible for the safety, maintenance and operational inspection audits for the Grupo Magico amusement and water parks located in Mexico City,  Guadalajara, Acapulco and Naulcalpan, Mexico and Bogota, Colombia.

In November 2004, Mr. Vondriska joined Essential Services & Programs as Vice President - Loss Control and is responsible for over 400 family entertainment centers throughout the United States insured under the Sterling & Sterling / IALEI insurance program.

Mr. Vondriska is a member of the American Society of Testing Materials ("ASTM"), F-24 committee for amusement device safety; Amusement Industry Manufacturers and Suppliers International ("AIMS"); International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions ("IAAPA"); and, International Association for the Leisure and Entertainment Industry ("IALEI"). During the past decade, Mr. Vondriska has performed safety, maintenance, and operations inspections for clients worldwide including China, Philippines, Colombia, Thailand, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Netherlands, England, and the United States.

In 1999, his peers honored Mr. Vondriska with the appointment as Chairperson of the Safety Committee for the International Association for the Leisure and Entertainment Industry (IALEI).  In 2001, Mr. Vondriska was elected to the IALEI Board of Directors and in 2003 was elected as President of IALEI. Currently Mr. Vondriska is Past President and Chairperson of the Safety Committee for IALEI.  In April 2007, Mr. Vondriska was elected to the Board of Directors of AIMS International.

Click here for more information on Essential Services & Programs LLC and our joint services. He can be directly reached at kenvondriska@leisure-business.com.