Monroe G. Baldwin, III was born and raised in Lynchburg, Virginia. After graduating from E.C. Glass High School in 1986, he attended George Mason University where he studied economics, real estate development and finance.
A member of the Sigma Nu fraternity, Baldwin presided over many offices. A fraternity brother, Danny Callahan, invited him to work with a small, innovative travel company he had organized, Ski Travel, to focus on banding large groups of high school and college students for ski trips to Canada. Baldwin was very successful in filling the buses with students and participated in the program throughout his college career, and later parlayed this experience to establish his own company.
His favorite office at Sigma Nu Fraternity was social chairman. Among the many responsibilities of this office was organizing a beach house for his fraternity during the annual Greek week in North Myrtle Beach, SC. It proved to be difficult to find a place that would rent to college students, so he drove to the beach ahead of time to research student-friendly housing. Practically no one wanted to rent a beach house to a fraternity. However, Baldwin met one person, Jim Riddle of Riddle Realty, who was hospitable to student groups and had numerous properties available. Baldwin took his pick and returned to school with the pictures of beach houses.
It just so happened that the following week all of the other fraternities and sororities were complaining about not being able to find rentals during the break. With his experience at Ski Travel, Baldwin borrowed and modified the sign-up sheets; called Riddle in North Myrtle Beach and reserved all of the houses available; set up a table in the student union, spread out the pictures of the houses, and Myrtle Beach Tours was born.
During the first year, 1988, Baldwin took 114 students from George Mason University to the beach and earned $714.00. A small beginning financially, but provided for a glorious beach week, especially when burgers were 75 cents and Crazy Zacks served 25-cent beers till 6:00am.
Myrtle Beach Tours has grown continuously through the years to become know as the premier company for student houses and condos for beach week vacations in the popular Ocean Drive section of North Myrtle Beach. In 1996 an entire block of cottages were acquired and dedicated to student housing from April through June. Additional beachfront houses and condos have continuously been added.
With the increase in business through the years, and the experience of knowing elements that work constructively in the rental business, Baldwin combined the latest technology with his durable design concepts and expanded into construction to create the perfect rental property to serve various student, vacation and winter rentals and opened his first group concept building, the Ocean Surf Club, in 2001.
Today Myrtle Beach Tours operates a multi-million dollar rental company that provides vacation housing to all types of groups - families, church and youth groups, school groups, reunions as well as extended star rentals during the late fall and winter seasons at the beach. The idea that started with one person searching for a beach week house for his fraternity now serves over 6,000 students from 245 colleges and schools located in 24 states.
Myrtle Beach Tours and M.G. Baldwin Development Group have made a most impressive mark of success focusing on attention to detail, quality, durability, using the latest technology, and a triage of rental programs marketed to specific niches. M.G. Baldwin Development Group continues to be distinguished for the innovative, compelling design of all of their concepts and properties of the past, present and future.
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