December 2020/January 2021

By David Gee “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin Just as you might like to take a physical inventory of your business at the end of the year,I like to take a mental inventory. Reflect on the past. Contemplate the future. Dream ...

By Adam Quandt This month’s issue features the Boating Industry’s Top 100 as we honor the best boat dealers in North America for the 17th time. After nearly two years surrounded by uncertainty, unprecedented demand and a pile of new challenges, this year’s Top 100 is a group of dealers that should be extremely proud of how they’ve navigated uncharted ...

By Boating Industry staff Celebrating its 17th year, the Boating Industry Top 100 Dealers program continues to recognize and celebrate the best of the best. Over the last 18-plus months, boat dealers have faced new hurdles left and right, but the dealers among this year’s Top 100 have risen to the challenge and continued to help push the entire recreational ...

Mark’s Marine, Inc.Hayden, Idaho The COVID-19 pandemic presented a new list of challenges to getting training accomplished in 2020, yet that didn’t stop Mark’s Marine from facing the challenges head on to ensure its team was prepared for success. With an ongoing transition through a succession plan, as well as shifting job roles around to accommodate additional growth in various ...

The Boat ShopTafton, Penn. In 1958, a Pennsylvania family decided to open a marina on Lake Wallenpaupack, a man-made, 5,700-acre, 13-mile-long lake in the Poconos built for hydroelectric power. Wallenpaupack Marina prospered, and attracted the attention of Roy Finney, Sr., who joined the staff in 1962 and never left! He took over full operations in 1973, and Roy Finney, Jr., ...

Shipyard MarineGreen Bay & Oshkosh, Wis. Marine 365 – the Lifestyle Without Limits dealership – is a complete sales, service, marina, and dry stack operation with three locations. Shipyard Marine in Green Bay is sited on three-and-a-half acres on the water on Green Bay’s west shore. It features a marina and 27,000 square-foot dry rack facility with over 130 wet ...

Nautical VenturesFort Lauderdale, Fla. Traditional and ordinary are two words that could never be used to explain the marketing efforts at Nautical Ventures. This Fort Lauderdale-based dealership group is all about standing out from the rest of the crowd and showing the world what having fun on the water is all about. With nine locations across Florida representing almost 20 ...

Silver Spray Sports, Inc.Fenton, Mich. Silver Spray Sports was started by two laid-off schoolteachers in the recession of 1981 who became business owners because of their love of watersports and boating, and not necessarily because they wanted to be business owners. In fact, Jeff and Patti Smith say if the recession would not have hit so hard back then, they ...

Clemons BoatsSandusky, Ohio Clemons Boats is located on 15 acres of waterfront property in Sandusky, Ohio, along the shore of the Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie. The dealership, as third-generation dealer principal Jason Clemons points out, is in “vacationland,” i.e., where people boat, and not where they live. Jason’s grandfather, Bob, founded Clemons Boats in 1966 when he purchased 10 ...

Breath’s Boats & MotorsBay St. Louis, Miss. In this new world of unprecedented demand for boats and boat service, it’s often easy to let some customer service standards slip a little, while each day seems busier than the next. A dealership in business since 1925, doesn’t stay in business without providing exceptional service to its customers, so Mississippi’s Breath’s Boats ...