The York Revolution ownership group has expanded for 2019, as the independent Atlantic League team adds new faces to the ranks.
Corporate investors Kinsley Companies and Stewart Companies have joined York Container executive Julian Tolbert and his wife, Jolene; Corvus LLC founder Loren Kroh; retired York County Community Foundation President and banker William Hartman; Shipley Energy Group President Matt Sommer and his wife, Rebecca Sanstead; Mike Summers of Summers Financial Planning and Investments and his wife, Jacquelyn; and Dan Waltersdorff, chairman of Barton Associates, in investing in the Atlantic League team.
They join Baseball Hall of Famer and former York White Rose Brooks Robinson and Shipley Energy Group Chairman Bill Shipley, who remains the team’s largest investor.
For Shipley, the new investors represent growth in not just capital but also in synergy.
“A business like the Revolution depends on its connection to the community,” Shipley said. “When that business’s ownership is deeply connected to the community, both benefit. These new investors really enhance the transformation from the ‘outside’ owners who founded the team to deep and broad community ownership.”
“This product has done nothing but grow and evolve over the years while constantly contributing to the York community and economy,” said Waltersdorff, a PeoplesBank Park skybox owner whose company worked on the original design of the ballpark’s mechanical and electrical systems. “Given the enhancements they have planned to stay competitive and the collective experience and success of the other investors, this was an easy and sound decision.”
“The management team’s vision and focus on fan and client expectations have resulted in a forward-thinking, long-range plan and a clear sense of how to achieve very data- and customer-driven goals,” Tolbert said. “We were impressed by the work that went into identifying and planning these enhancements and the care the team puts into everything offered at the ballpark.”
Menzer called the commitment by the team’s newest investors a testament to the community and economic drivers that began building the downtown York ballpark in 2006.
“Thirteen years ago, area businesses and investors saw this team and this building as a critical component of York’s revitalization,” said Revolution President Eric Menzer, who served as York’s director of economic development when the ballpark was first proposed. “Today, another group of avid supporters of the community have demonstrated their belief in the future of our product and the community it supports and relies on. They are helping to make that future happen.”