20 Years of Insights From the State of the Industry Report
Join Recreation Management for an upcoming free webinar sponsored by Belson Outdoors, LLC., Fluidra, Greenfields Outdoor Fitness, and Shade N Net, exploring key insights from the State of the Industry Report, including budgets, amenities, construction plans, facility challenges, and the trends shaping recreation, sports, fitness, and aquatic facilities.
ADG’s Justin Caron, Principal / CEO, will bring an aquatics perspective to the conversation, sharing insight from more than 20 years of consulting experience and 800+ aquatic facility projects. He’ll be joined by fellow industry experts Scott Crawford of RDG Planning & Design and RM’s Editorial Director Emily Tipping for a discussion on what the data reveals about today’s recreation, sports, fitness, and aquatic facility landscape.
Want to know where your facility stands when it comes to budgets, amenities, construction, industry challenges and more?
For 20 years, Recreation Management’s cutting-edge State of the Industry Report has been bringing you the most up-to-date analysis of trends in recreation, sports, fitness and aquatic facilities. Now we bring that information to our popular Educational Webinar series. Learn more about:
Average operating costs and revenue trends for different types of facilities.
Facility construction plans, budgets and challenges.
The most common amenities for aquatic, parks and recreation, and other facilities.
The biggest trends driving decision-making in aquatic, recreation, sports and fitness facilities for the past 20 years.
DATE: THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2026 3p ET / 2:00 PM CT / 12:00 PM PT
Speakers:
Emily Tipping
Editorial Director, Recreation Management
For nearly 20 years, Emily has led Recreation Management’s editorial team, helping guide the magazine’s content in print and online, and moderating educational webinars for more than five years. She launched the magazine’s State of the Industry Report in 2007, adding the Aquatic Trends Report to expand on this comprehensive research in 2019.
Justin Caron
Principal & CEO, Aquatic Design Group
Justin has spent his entire life around aquatics. Son of an ASCA level 4 coach, Justin developed a passion for water early and translated that passion to success as a swimmer at the club, high school, NCAA, and USA Swimming levels. Following graduation, he coached at elite swim camps around the country while working full time. In 2005, Justin transitioned into the world of aquatics consulting working his way up from business development to being named CEO of Aquatic Design Group in 2019. Since 2005, he has personally managed over 800 projects, spoken at over 100 industry events, and written or been featured in over 75 publications and podcasts. Justin is a member of several industry committees and boards and strives to improve lives through equitable access to water for people of all generations and abilities.
Scott Crawford, PLA, ASLA, LEED AP
Principal, RDG Planning & Design
Scott is a Principal at RDG Planning & Design with over 20 years of experience delivering complex, high-impact projects for public, private and nonprofit clients across parks, recreation, conservation, sports, destination and tourism, and community development markets. He is recognized for providing strategic leadership throughout the planning and design process—guiding multidisciplinary teams, aligning stakeholders, and translating vision into implementable, outcome-driven solutions. His approach is rooted in creating distinctive, place-based experiences that elevate cultural identity, strengthen environmental systems, and foster healthy, resilient communities. Beyond his professional work, Scott serves in leadership roles on public, nonprofit and foundation boards, where he actively advances initiatives that shape community outcomes. He is an internationally published author and regularly contributes to professional discourse at local, state, regional and national conferences. His collaborative work on award-winning projects has been recognized by leading organizations including the American Society of Landscape Architects, American Institute of Architects, American Planning Association, National Recreation and Park Association, National Association of Counties, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, and others—reflecting a consistent track record of design excellence and industry leadership.