Blogs

By Mark Babbitt At one point not too long ago, it seemed an economic recovery was inevitable. But, COVID variants combined with politics-as-usual—along with what many people believe to be a labor shortage —stopped many businesses and industries from regaining momentum.  While we can’t solve the COVID crisis as quickly as we’d like, we can beat the labor shortage. At ...

By Myril Shaw The Senate recently narrowly approved President Biden’s pick, Rohit Chopra, to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. News outlets say the confirmation gives the bureau a director who is likely to embrace an aggressive “watchdog” role as a consumer advocate, and one who favors stiff penalties for bad actors such as predatory lenders. Like it or not, ...

By Stephanie Vatalaro To build a pipeline of future participants, we must start engaging younger, more multicultural audiences now. That could be said about any number of things, but we know it to be true about fishing and boating. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau report, for the first time in history, the white population has decreased and our country is ...

By David Gee When the Boating Industry team all boarded airplanes from various parts of the country to converge and convene at IBEX in Tampa, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. Though the show is just getting started, the early signs are indeed promising. The industry breakfast featuring the innovation Awards presentations and a keynote by Florida Governor Ron ...

By Bill Yeargin Reading dozens of books a year is typical for me, and while not all of them are business-oriented, many are. Apparently, this is not unusual, as a Fast Company survey of CEOs found that the typical CEO reads 60 books a year. As President Harry S. Truman said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are ...

By David Gee Recently I have turned from a golf fan, into a bit of a fanatic. For most of my adult life, golfing just interfered with slalom sets and wake surfing. I figured any time I could be on the golf course, I could also be on our boat, and I preferred the latter to the former. I certainly ...

Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. loves to speak about economics. And in fact, he will be the opening keynote speaker at our Boating Industry ELEVATE Summit Conference in Atlanta, November 8 – 10. For those of you who haven’t seen him in the past at ELEVATE, know that he will both educate and entertain when he talks about the economy. Which isn’t always ...

By Bill Yeargin After three decades in the boating industry, it takes a lot for me to be surprised. Good times, bad times, and pretty much everything in between has happened, but the past 18 months have been unlike anything our industry has experienced. We shut down 90% of our industry’s manufacturing plants in the spring of 2020 while wrestling ...

By David Gee I came, I saw, I cast. Literally. Thousands of people recently descended upon the Orlando Convention Center for ICAST 2021, the world’s largest sportfishing trade show. It’s the premier showcase for the latest innovations in fishing gear, accessories and apparel, and helps to drive recreational fishing sales. And sales are up, way up, and that’s no fish story. ...

By Myril Shaw A new form of identity theft known as synthetic fraud is on the rise. And you won’t like what we have to say about it. With traditional identity theft, someone will normally notice something amiss or unusual or inflated on their credit report, credit card statement, or bank statement. With synthetic fraud, there is nothing to notice. ...