Working hard at playing hard

Some people get an MBA and go on to sell investments, insurance or real estate.

Pat McNamara sells playgrounds.

About three years ago, he started Max Play Fit, a company that helps people design and build playgrounds that meet their needs. Last week, his fifth local playground was installed at Amelon United Methodist Church in Madison Heights.

McNamara said his new career is a nice recess from some of his previous work, including 25 years in manufacturing.

In the playground business, “you’re selling to moms and kids, and they want this type of stuff, and they want it to be safe and … fun,” he said.

“‘Fitness and fun’ is my slogan.”

McNamara started his career by managing and supervising manufacturing projects. After a stint at American Can in Chicago, he moved to Lynchburg to work at C.B. Fleet and later Frito Lay. In 1997, he earned his MBA at Lynchburg College.

McNamara said he has been a sports enthusiast for years. He coached his four children in baseball and basketball. About 11 years ago, he started officiating high school softball games with Colonial Officials Association. Later on, he added other sports to his repertoire, including basketball and lacrosse.

In 2005, McNamara decided to put his MBA to work for himself. He launched his own business selling fitness equipment that incorporates video games to get kids interested in exercise.

A couple of years later, McNamara’s brother and sister-in-law suggested that he look into selling playground equipment. They had been successful in their own playground business for years. They invited him to a trade show in Indianapolis, where he decided playgrounds would be his next venture.

It was a quick and easy decision.

“Did I do all the stuff I learned in MBA school and evaluate it? No,” McNamara said. “I knew I could be a good representative.”

His sister-in-law showed him the companies that she had found provided the best equipment. McNamara took a class to become a certified playground equipment inspector. About a year later, he sold his first playground.

McNamara still sells some fitness games, but he focuses on playgrounds. He likes that it brings together his project management experience, his love for sports and his business degree.

McNamara has sold playground equipment to five schools or churches in the Lynchburg area and several in other regions. A playground he sold to Forest Elementary School is now pictured in the catalog of Xccent Play, one of his suppliers.

With schools facing budget cuts and teacher layoffs, they are less likely to spend money on playgrounds, he said. Because of that, the business is not doing as well as McNamara had hoped, but “it’s ramping toward that.”

Last year McNamara got his biggest project to date, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Max Play Fit received a $158,116 contract to install two playgrounds totaling 1,300 square feet at a set of recreational lakes in East Lyn, W.Va.

That large project forced him outside of his comfort zone, but it provided good experience, McNamara said. It made 2009 a good year.

“Last year was my best year to date, even though the first half of the year was bad,” McNamara said.