About S.T.E.P.S., Inc.

Who is S.T.E.P.S., Inc.?

Based in Southeastern Michigan, S.T.E.P.S., Inc. was founded in 1991 by a group of professionals in education, mental health, and organizational development. The founders all shared a strong interest in using outdoor activities to enhance and support the work they were doing in more traditional settings. Since 1991, S.T.E.P.S. has taken a leading role in developing adventure challenge programs for agencies and organizations throughout southeastern Michigan, and more recently, across the United States and abroad. Services range from challenge course programming to challenge course and canopy tour installation and program development. In addition to on-site programming and consulting, the company currently has management and course usage partnerships with a variety of agencies near their base of operations in Southeastern Michigan.

How is S.T.E.P.S., Inc. different from other canopy tour builders?

Our strength lays in our years of expereince building and managing adventure challenge programs. Since 1991, we have run more than 250,000 clients through challenge programs at our managed sites in Southeastern Michigan and Western New York, trained more than 3,000 teachers and facilitators across the United States, and certified more than 350 canopy tour guides. When you add the number of clients we have served directly to guests our canopy tour and zip line clients have served, we estimate that more than half a million people have been exposed to our courses. When we add up just the number of zip line descents clients on our courses have made, the total comes to more than 2.5 million descents. That's a lot of cable riding.

Building a successful canopy tour business takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Like most small businesses, Canopy Tour operations require experience in business operations, staff management, finance, training and development, and sales and marketing. Our consultants, builders, and trainers work closely with each client to assess these needs and to help ensure that all business operations are successfully attended.

We do not offer a franchise system. Instead, it is our goal to understand our clients needs and desires and to provide the services and experience necessary to develop a customized turn-key solution. In some cases, clients take full advantages of all of our resources and services. In most cases, however, we pair our services with the strengths and resources of the client.

The following is a list of just some of the services that we can offer.

• Business coaching for canopy tours and challenge courses
• Staff training and development services for canopy tours and zip lines
• Operations review and assessments for canopy tour operations
• Course documentation and curriculum design
• Creation of canopy tour and zip line program standards and guidelines
• Administrative and operation management tools for challenge course and canopy tours
• Safety equipment purchases for canopy tours, zip lines, and challenge courses
• Web design and marketing materials
• 5-step design process for canopy tours and challenge courses
• Site feasabiltiy studies for canopy tour operations
• Site mapping and surveys
• CAD and 3-D computer-rendered drawings
• Course installation services
• Course maintenance and renovations
• Technical inspections and documentation