Blogs

Last spring, during a round of 20 Group meetings, I heard many of the dealers complaining about business, the economy, interest rates, new curtailments, the media and on and on. Then, I asked the dealers to switch their train of thought to tell me what was good about the boat business.

If much of our experienced workforce has found employment in other fields, what chance do we have of attracting them back to the boating business when we need them?

While dealer net profits through July are off 60 percent, the rate of decline appears to be slowing. Through June, net profits, year over year, were off almost 86 percent.

The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) announced this morning that it's combining its Marine Aftermarket Accessories Trade Show (MAATS) with the fall 2010 International Boatbuilder's Exhibition and Conference (IBEX). This news doesn't come as a surprise. Trade show producers run a business just like the rest of us, and when times are tough, consolidation is a natural consideration. Plus, it ...

Mercury's will-it-or-won't-it decision to move jobs to Oklahoma is starting to resemble the summer saga of another Wisconsin institution: Brett Favre.

The news coming out of Fountain Powerboats hasn't been good for a while, but this week it got a little worse when the company filed for bankruptcy.

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 ...

By Peter Granata, President, Granata Design and the Marine Design Resource Alliance — As a kid on summer vacation, there was nothing like the two weeks in which the family would trek into the far north of Wisconsin in search of the best fishing. My grandfather was the proud owner of a Johnson Sea Horse outboard engine, and although he ...

Mercury Marine was founded in 1939 in Cedarburg, Wis. Is it time to leave the state where it all began?

As the years move on, it becomes more and more apparent how big of a part the Internet is going to play in the success of small businesses.