Trade Associations

The Sea Tow Foundation, a non-profit focused on boating safety, is excited to announce that they won a Power of Associations Gold Award from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) for their successful Life Jacket Loaner Program initiative. ASAE’s Power of Associations Awards honor associations that go above and beyond their everyday mission to undertake initiatives that benefit their ...

Boating Industry is proud to announce that it will be hosting an event for young professionals at this year’s International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, from 4-6 p.m., in Tampa, Fla. The special two-part event from NMMA’s Emerging Marine Leaders group will begin with a presentation from University of Tampa, Career Readiness representatives; Mark Colvenbach, ...

The American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC), the nonprofit organization that develops safety standards for the design, construction, maintenance, and repair of boats has opened registration for Standards Week, Jan. 7-11, 2024, in Annapolis. The ABYC’s annual meeting is slated for the evening of Jan. 8, marking the organization’s 70th anniversary. Captain Amy Beach, director of inspections and compliance for ...

HuntingtonDistribution Finance (HDF), a subsidiary of The Huntington National Bank, and United Marine Manufacturers Association (UMMA) announced the five-year extension of a floorplan financing program designed to provide UMMA’s member-organizations and their dealers financing that meets each member organization’s needs. “UMMA is extremely pleased to extend our relationship with Huntington Distribution Finance. This extension will ensure that our builders and ...

The Sea Tow Foundation has released a Flare Education Toolkit for the boating community. The toolkit is designed to provide boaters with the information they need to safely and properly use traditional flares as well as electronic flares (known as E-Flares). The toolkit also includes pre-made social media copy and email templates for industry leaders to easily spread flare knowledge ...

Nominations are being accepted for the 2024 NMMA Alan J. Freedman Memorial Leadership Award. This award recognizes individuals who have made notable contributions to the marine accessories industry through leadership, creativity and personal motivation. The following are categories for consideration: Marine aftermarket or OEM manufacturer Marine representative Member of marine-focused media Boat dealer Marine distributor Marine trade association staff person To ...

The Water Sports Foundation, in collaboration with the Hispanic Communications Network (HCN), completed a highly successful Spanish-language educational campaign promoting life jacket wear to Latino families in the United States. The campaign more than doubled its goal of 6.3 million media impressions, delivering 12.8 million safe boating messages via radio, television and online. The campaign ran from May 15 to ...

Before last month’s August recess, Congress advanced several (FY) 2024 appropriation bills—which include a number of the recreational boating industry’s funding priorities, such as addressing the proposed vessel speed restrictions.The spending bills include funding for industry priorities by the Department of Commerce, the Department of Interior, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The bills also support important programs that ...

A four-year, $10 million grant from NOAA’s Marine Debris Removal Program to the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water aims to rid the nation’s shores of abandoned and derelict vessels (ADVs), and remove the associated pollution, navigation and safety hazards that can harm waters for years. The grant, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is part of NOAA’s larger mission to address marine debris, ...

Leading outdoor recreation organizations are fully supporting Senator Michael Bennet and Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury’s newly-introduced Rural Outdoor Investment (ROI) Act. This bill provides much-needed support for rural communities seeking to build and plan for recreation economies. If passed, the ROI Act’s funding could not come at a better time. Outdoor recreation participation sky-rocketed during the pandemic as millions of Americans ...