Entrepreneur: Jay Bennett

“To train and do well in any sport at a high level you have to be committed and dedicated. Anyone who has done well in a sport can do well in business because you have the drive and willingness to succeed that other people don’t.”

Jay Bennett

Owner, Bennett’s Water Ski & Wakeboard School

WHAT THEY DO:

Water ski school

ADDRESS:

18605 Barnett Road, Zachary NEXT GOALS:

Host more events at the school facility

RIVER RETREATS

Baton Rouge native Jay Bennett grew up going to his family’s False River camp on weekends to water-ski. At age 10, he started skiing competitively. After graduating from trade school, Bennett worked in a north Baton Rouge plant—the same one where his father worked—but after two years, he realized he didn’t want to work in a plant. Bennett and his wife ran a ski club together on False River and a barefoot water-skier from New York, who owned his own ski school, suggested the couple start their own school. “And then he left a sizable tip on the table—it got me and my wife’s attention that maybe a ski school could be a reality for us.” Bennett started his business in May 1977.

PUBLIC WATERS

Because he couldn’t control the boat traffic in public waters, Bennett and a few local families started looking for a piece of property where they could create lakes to water-ski. An abandoned catfish farm in Zachary with 11 ponds over 63 acres caught Bennett’s eye and he began building his own facility in 1979. Today, Bennett maintains and runs three lakes— with nearly 40 acres of land underwater—in Zachary for his school, where he’s hosted collegiate, national and pro championship events. “The best advertisement is wordof-mouth with people endorsing us—repeat customers are our bread and butter.”

DROPPING SKIS

While Bennett estimates that most water skiing schools stay open a decade, his operation in Zachary is entering its 46th year. He hosts international students in the spring, domestic adult clients through May, and focuses on camps for local children in the summer. Though he had expanded to include a boat business and retail pro shop at the school site, he sold those arms of the business to his daughter and her husband so that he could focus on running the school. “We had a vision of being a onestop shop for everything. Having a facility that can cater to all aspects of water sports is very unique, and I’m not sure if anyone in the U.S. is doing it to the level we are at in Zachary.” —By Holly Duchmann • Photography by Collin Richie

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