1995: Boat Ed® Incorporation
Kurt and Cindy Kalkomey incorporate Boat Ed® to offer boating safety education and certification tests.
We’re all about creating outdoor enthusiasts. Our platform connects millions of people with the outdoors every year. Established in 1995, Kalkomey partnered with state agencies to provide boater education. As our industry and product expertise advanced, and at the request of our clients, Kalkomey began to offer more than education. Today, Kalkomey offers an entire suite of integrated web applications designed to connect people with the outdoors.
Not all of our decisions are driven by data. We’re also very casual, and we know how to treat each other (and furry friends) right.
We make life at Kalkomey as enjoyable for our employees as possible. Work-from-home flexibility and generous PTO days are just a couple of ways we make it easier for our employees to find that perfect work–life balance.
We love educating others about outdoor recreation activities, but we also love enjoying these activities first-hand. That is why it is not uncommon for us to get outside as a team and put our education to the test.
Come by our office and you will be greeted by some friendly faces (and some slobbery ones too). We couldn’t be happier to host a pawful of our team members’ dogs on any given day.
Meet the individuals who are responsible for leading our team and growing our courses and company initiatives.
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Financial Officer
VP of Operations
VP of Revenue Marketing
VP of Agency Relations
VP of Sales
VP of Technology
Director of Product
President of Diver Training
Corporate Controller
VP of Government Relations
VP of Education
Director of Strategy
General Manager
Director of Project Management
Senior Human Resources
Chief of Staff
VP of Sales, Campgrounds
Director of Customer Service
The Account Management department communicates with external contacts, such as government agencies and organizations, and internal teams. Their expertise in communication is essential for delivering a flawless experience.
The Quality Assurance department works with all areas of the company. It is key to delivering products and services that both meet the needs of the customer and are at the highest quality possible, achieved by rigorous testing and end-to-end quality management.
The Marketing department is responsible for establishing long-lasting relationships with our customers and mapping new routes to revenue. As a team full of digital natives, this department is highly data-driven and uses an agile marketing methodology to create continuous customer value.
From innovation to maintenance, there is no department more heavily relied on than the Software Development. It is this department that maintains the successful operation of our AMS services and courses.
When it comes to education, user experience is of the utmost importance. Our Media and Design team is well versed in this area to produce course materials that users will enjoy learning from.
With more than 360 courses, there are bound to be some questions. Fortunately, our Customer Service department does an incredible job at answering phone calls and managing email inquiries so that the users can enjoy the outdoors.
Our goal is to save lives by imparting our experience and knowledge of outdoor recreational safety. The Content and Editorial department ensures that the information is easily understood, accurate, and up to date.
Our product managers are responsible for the definition and development of products for the organization. They ensure our products and services have incredible design, the right feature set, and provide excellent value that exceeds our customers’ needs.
In 1995, we started out with just one office in Dallas, Texas. Now, we have offices in Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Sweden. We also have team members working remotely, further expanding our global presence.
We’ve been around since 1995, and since then, we’ve done some pretty remarkable things.
Kurt and Cindy Kalkomey incorporate Boat Ed® to offer boating safety education and certification tests.
The first boating safety video course and home-study test are launched in Texas. Georgia and South Carolina begin offering the boating safety video course. Kalkomey begins delivering online safety training with the introduction of boat-ed.com in Texas.
Boat Ed publishes a boating manual on behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard and United States Power Squadrons, the first external company to do so in the history of those organizations.
Southeast states ask Kalkomey to develop a hunter education manual.
Hunter-ed.com, which provides online hunter education, is launched. Kalkomey prints its first hunting manual, Today’s Hunter. A Spanish-language edition of Boat America—Navegando America—is printed.
Kalkomey becomes the first boating safety course provider to introduce interactive animations to enhance online learning.
The bowhunting education course and exams debut online at bowhunter-ed.com.
Offroad-ed.com, an online source for off-road vehicle safety education and certification, is introduced. A Spanish-language edition of Today’s Hunter—El Cazador de Hoy—is printed.
Kalkomey buys Outdoor Empire Publishing’s education division—a library of print publications.
Boat Ed is the first boater safety course provider to stream video segments for online instruction.
Kalkomey’s Event Manager is introduced for Missouri and soon gains wide acceptance. It’s a secure, Internet-based system for state agencies to manage any event offered to the public.
Kalkomey begins recruiting a team of highly skilled programmers and user experience professionals to meet the needs of a rapidly growing Internet-based product line. Snowmobile-ed.com, an online source for snowmobile safety education and certification, is introduced.
Kalkomey begins to encompass the full spectrum of print, online, and DVD courses and data management tools. Kalkomey moves its offices to a new 30,000 square foot building at 14086 Proton Road in Dallas, Texas.
Kalkomey releases responsive versions of all of its online safety education courses, allowing course pages to adapt the layout and presentation to be appropriate for whatever electronic device and screen size the student is using—from mobile phones to desktop computer monitors.
Kalkomey launches Register Ed, a secure system for students to register for safety education events offered by agencies and organizations. Kalkomey converts all of our official state boating handbooks into eBook format and launches our online bookstore. Kalkomey also releases a new Hunter Safety video series.
Kalkomey’s Hunter Safety Video Series wins the Pinnacle Award from POMA and finishes 3rd in the 34th Annual Telly Awards. Kalkomey launches its first online snowmobile course in Canada and purchases the CMSC assets in preparation to launch an online Canadian boating course. Kalkomey debuts ilostmycard.com. Certification Manager is launched for Pennsylvania and later Virginia.
Kalkomey proudly introduces its Transport Canada–approved online Canadian boating course. Handgunsafetycourse.com, an online source for handgun safety education, is launched, and the Handgun Safety Course video series wins POMA’s Pinnacle Award for 2014. Kalkomey undergoes an interior renovation.
Kalkomey is acquired by Inverness Graham, a private investment firm located just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Because of our history of innovation and growth, Kalkomey fits in perfectly with Inverness Graham’s vision.
Kalkomey acquires Outdoor Roadmap, a Michigan-based online hunter safety training company and brand consultancy for the outdoor industry. At the time, Outdoor Roadmap was the only resource to offer online hunter safety instructor training.
Kalkomey launches AMS, a full-service, comprehensive solution for agencies and their outdoor recreation needs. Initial applications included Certification Manager, Event Manager, and access to our Online Courses.
Later in the year, fourth application on the AMS platform is introduced. AMS Volunteers gives agencies the ability to recruit volunteers, manage programs, and utilize a suite of tools that integrate with state’s licensing applications.
Following the initial launch of AMS and the AMS Volunteers application, AMS Subscriptions was also introduced in 2016. The application allows agencies to subscribe and renew magazine subscriptions and memberships for both students and outdoor enthusiasts.
Kalkomey merges with its competitor Fresh Air Educators. Like Kalkomey, Fresh Air Educators works with government agencies and school districts across North America to develop online courses for outdoor enthusiasts. Kalkomey now has a Canadian office located in the capital of Ottawa, Ontario.
Kalkomey wins the Nevada Licensing contract, which represents a turning point for the company. With the first full implementation of the AMS system, Kalkomey proves that we are more than an education company and can provide software solutions.
Kalkomey’s goal of providing everything an agency needs to fulfil its students’ needs is further realized with the introduction of AMS Licensing. The new application allows agencies to manage recruitment, retention, and reactivation of all their outdoor enthusiasts.
Kalkomey acquires RAID, a dedicated, e-learning, recreational rebreather, and open circuit scuba diving training organization. RAID offers a complete range of online diver academic programs from beginner to instructor examiner levels in snorkeling, scuba, and freediving.
The future of boater safety education is launched in 2018 with the introduction of Kalkomey’s first interactive course, iLearntoboat. The course leverages gamification techniques, which encourage more engagement through fun, entertaining learning styles.
In 2019, Kalkomey will launch its second interactive course. This time, for the hunting industry. iLearntohunt uses the same interactive principles and game theory from iLearntoboat and applies them to realistic hunting scenarios for improved student engagement in the hunter education experience. iLearntohunt will be the hunting industry’s first interactive hunter education course.
Kalkomey wins its second licensing contract in 2019. This time, for the great state of New York. From management, retention, and reactivation, Kalkomey will provide the state of New York with everything they need to assist their outdoor enthusiasts.
Are you a student with questions or an agency interested in our services? We would be happy to answer your questions. Fill out this contact form, and a representative from our organization will get back to you.
For urgent matters, please contact our Customer Service department.
Most recently Chief Financial Officer for One Technologies, Gayle received her MBA from UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management and was a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California. She lives in Richardson with her husband Phil, their two dogs, and their two children when they aren’t away at college.
Regardless of the activity, Laura just loves being outdoors. It’s one of the reasons why she understands our customers so well. As an energetic, curious, collaborator, Laura has been a welcome addition to the Kalkimey team as Director of Customer Service.
In sales, sometimes you have to bend over backwards to get a deal done. Fortunately for David, he makes sure to attend plenty of his wife’s yoga classes to stay limber. A calm, self-motivated, and funny Canadian, David spent 4 years at Arizona State University and 2 years working a few hours from our Dallas office in Houston, Texas.
While our Chief of Staff isn’t required to go on cruises or hang out with celebrities (like she did with her previous employer), Tenetra will be the first to tell you that the personalities and egos are much easier to manage at Kalkomey. Loyal, charming, and goofy; Tentra’s favourite thing to do outdoors is to sit on the patio and makeup stories about people as they walk by.
As artificial intelligence and automation become more common in the workplace, it’s great to have someone like Natalie who understands and shares human emotions. She really puts the human back into Human Resources. When she’s not dealing with our grievances, Natalie is out running, bowling, camping (when she can), or playing a game of bocce ball.
When Aneil isn’t at work, he’s spending as much time as he can with his wife and daughter playing Lego. At work, he’s our enthusiastic Director of Product and a passionate problem solver. Just not as passionate as he is about Lego…
To be an effective Director of Project Management, you need to be thoughtful, diligent, and dependable. Coincidentally, Chet described himself using those exact three words. Suspicious? When he’s not involved with project management in the office, he’s coordinating activities like skiing, mountain biking, and obscure board games with his kids.
The culture, collaboration, and knowing how much everyone makes are just a few of Heather’s favorite things about being a member of the Kalkomey team. When she’s not in the office, she’s catching some vitamin D at the pool or lake with her young family.
As our Vice President of Marketing, Jake embraces the challenges that come with Kalkomey’s rapid growth. However, when he is not in the office, he likes to relax with his wife Erin and their pup Winter, play basketball, or shoot some pool.
When it comes to our VP of Technology, Kevin is a Viking. Not a traditional Viking, but in a technological sense. Kevin seeks out opportunities, conquers bugs, and manages the technical processes that allow Kalkomey to grow.
As our Vice President of Sales, Ray St. Germain is both assertive and outgoing. In order to have a successful 20-year career in sales, he’s had to be. When Ray is not establishing targets and meeting goals, he is enjoying the outdoors with his three children.
Without a strategy, you risk cruising around without a sense of direction. While this is a great approach on a bicycle, Scott will tell you it is not the case when it comes to business. With over 20 years of experience in license automation, we are in great hands with Scott as Director of Strategy.
Building agency relationships isn’t all about just associating over expensive dinners. When it comes to our VP of Agency Relations, Mitch lives and breathes our mission of “our work saves lives.” When he is not outdoors fishing, he is enjoying the company of his family and friends.
You would trust anyone with your money. Right? Of course not. With an accounting degree from North Central College and a Certified Public Accountant designation, David is our trusted Chief Financial Officer. When he is not focusing on crunching numbers, he is listening to music or playing golf.
When your General Manager is a natural hunter and fisherman, it’s reasonable to be a little intrigued. Fortunately for Kalkomey and the team in Ottawa, Greg has all of his ducks in a row. Second only to his wife and kids is his passion for the outdoors; he enjoys the fact he is able to work in an industry that he cares so much about.
(Tip: Don’t type anything bad about the CEO.) All kidding aside, when it comes to Jason, it’s all positive. From his successful career in the tech and software industries, he has brought a valuable set of insight and direction to Kalkomey. When he is not at work, he is getting as much quality time with his family as he can or neglecting them while playing video games.
If you ever need a survey answered, don’t ask our Vice President of Operations, Ado. For starters, he is normally too busy. Secondly, he has the type of personality that pairs perfectly well with shiny silver pants, a blue velvet dress jacket, and a t-shirt that lights up. So—anything goes.
Our Vice President of Education loves learning and is a teacher at heart. When not helping Kalkomey develop next-generation online courses, he spends much of his time in the pursuit of knowledge—reading, writing, traveling, and running up against Aristotle’s aphorism “The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.”
For over 20 years, Steven wandered the halls of government, working for members of Congress. With his experience, which includes a degree in Public Policy and Administration, he is an invaluable member of the Kalkomey team as the Director of Government Affairs.
Do you know how you can tell if someone’s tattoos are real? They spend as much time in the water as Paul does and still the tattoos don’t wash off. Our Vice President of Diver Training is a bona fide adventurer and a complete professional. When he is not leading dives, he is either riding on his motorcycle, playing drums, snowboarding, mountain biking, or simply hanging out with his son.