For more than two weeks, the average price of regular gas in the U.S. has been dropping, according to USAToday.com. As of yesterday, the average price of a gallon of regular gas was $2.76, the newspaper reported in an article today, and some analysts are predicting it could drop further, perhaps even as low as this time last year, which was about 30 cents per gallon cheaper. Read more >>
Tags: Boating, Economy, gas prices, Memorial Day
While I was a Brownie for a year or two in elementary school, it wasn’t my path to a love of the outdoors. I didn’t realize what an incredible impact Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts can have on kids until later in life. In my 20s, when I was dating my husband, I had a chance to attend quite a few Boy Scout ceremonies to cheer on his younger brother, Chad, who would eventually go on to achieve Eagle Scout. Over the years, I learned a lot about what was involved, from wilderness trips and fundraisers to the earning of patches of all colors, shapes and sizes. Most of all, I was impressed with how the program exposed kids to all kinds of experiences they wouldn’t otherwise have had. Read more >>
During the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo last month, I was thrilled to hear Joe Verde talking about the importance of marine businesses getting the right people working in their companies and leading and training them well. That is essential if dealerships are to recover from the effects of the recession and grow. Read more >>
Welcome to the photo showcase for the 2009 Boating Industry Top 100 Dealers Club 100 Gala, brought to you by the Leadership Alliance and Boating Industry magazine. This gallery showcases the entire event, held on Nov. 18, 2009, from the cocktail reception through the awards and the after Top 100 networking event. You can view all of the photos and download, for free, any individual photos you’d like. Just click on the photo you want to download and save it to your desktop. You can also add comments to the gallery if you’d like. And as always, feel free to contact the Boating Industry staff for further questions or needs by e-mailing or calling Managing Editor Jon Mohr at jmohr@affinitygroup.com or 763/383-4466. Read more >>
I can be a bit of an idealist sometimes. And one of my ideals is a united recreational marine industry, all of us working together to deliver a boating experience that exceeds customers’ expectations every time and to create a business environment that everyone wants to work in. When I see evidence of that, it makes my day. That’s why I had to share a recent press release I received. Read more >>
Tags: Evinrude, Mercury, unification
I was driving in the car yesterday when a story came on National Public Radio about Columbia, Ky.-based houseboat builder Majestic Yachts. It’s no surprise in this economy that it was a sad story, at least at first. The article began by profiling Faye Womack, a former employee. She was part of a 27-person boat production team until orders stopped coming in last summer and CEO Jim Hadley was forced to lay off every single employee. He and the two other owners spent the winter trying to find odd jobs to pay the factory’s bills, according to NPR. Read more >>
Over the past week, it has been hard for the marine industry to avoid the bad news. Genmar Holdings’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last Monday – and predictions of more to come – has deflated some of the hope created by recent positive economic indicators. But regardless of the fall-out we’re likely to see as the year progresses, we know there will be many survivors. And one of the most effective strategies for survival is diversification. Read more >>
Tags: Diversification, Economy
I’ve never been to Seattle, but it’s pretty high up on my list of places to visit. My favorite cities are those where you can be in the thick of what makes them so appealing – the museums, restaurants, shops and marketplaces – and you can look up and see the evidence of the natural world, the water and the mountains, just beyond. But even more attractive is the city’s large and progressive boating business community. Just look at the Northwest Marine Trade Association’s (NMTA) Grow Boating Initiative and particularly its most recent promotion, unveiled yesterday. Read more >>
As a graduate of the public school system, I think I’ve done all right. But if I have one complaint, it’s that my teachers and guidance counselors didn’t spent any time helping me understand what school is supposed to prepare you for: work. Sure, they taught me the basics: reading, writing and arithmetic. But they didn’t help me imagine all the ways I might apply them. They didn’t challenge me to think about how I could transform the things I was best at and most passionate about into a career. And they certainly didn’t expose me to what such a career might look and feel like. No mentoring programs. No internship programs. No career-oriented field trips. Unfortunately, the same was largely true of the pricey private college I attended. I stumbled upon a career in the boating industry completed by chance. Read more >>
Tags: recruiting
In my last blog, I wrote about why it is particularly important that our industry’s small businesses develop strong and effective succession plans. But the industry as a whole has its own succession problems, which become more urgent as the recession continues. As the boating business shrinks, the need for a new generation of leaders to point the way to recovery and growth becomes more critical. Read more >>
Tags: leadership
