Tag Archives: MRAA

By Wanda Kenton Smith From her earliest years playing on boats at Wayzata Marine in Wayzata, Minn., to dusting, stocking shelves and handling administrative duties as a teen, to moving into key roles managing inventory and selling parts and accessories, Natalie Briggs Carlson was always immersed in her family’s boating business. After marriage, she relocated with her husband to Austin, ...

The National Marine Manufacturers Association, the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas are continuing their collaboration on the industry-wide Get On Board consumer marketing campaign. The program is aimed at recruiting and retaining new participants during the upcoming fishing and boating season. “Fishing and boating have become important mainstays for consumers to keep up ...

With a surge in new boating and fishing participants in 2020, it is essential to ensure newcomers embrace fishing and boating for years to come. NMMA, RBFF and MRAA have compiled a five-minute survey to help guide and prioritize items for a retention toolkit to support your customer engagement and retention efforts in 2021.  While NMMA, MRAA and RBFF have customer engagement ...

The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas announced its Board of Directors for 2021, including new chairman, Rob Soucy, President of Port Harbor Marine. Soucy has served on the MRAA Board of Directors since 2006, most recently as the MRAA Vice Chairman. He replaces Joe Hoffmaster, owner of Hoffmaster’s Marina, who served two years as the Chairman and now moves ...

The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas announced that it will launch a new monthly educational series, Training ‘N’ Tactics (or “TNT” for short), to provide training and foster team development for member dealers. “This new monthly series is designed as a turnkey way for members to introduce a training curriculum in their dealerships,” said Matt Gruhn, MRAA President. “Our ...

With a surge in new boating and fishing participants in 2020, it is essential to ensure newcomers embrace fishing and boating for years to come. NMMA, RBFF and MRAA have compiled a five-minute survey to help guide and prioritize items for a retention toolkit to support your customer engagement and retention efforts in 2021.  While NMMA, MRAA and RBFF have customer engagement ...

Kristen Frohnhoefer, president of Sea Tow Services International, has been named the Darlene Briggs Marine Woman of the Year by the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) Educational Foundation. Frohnhoefer received the prestigious award during the virtual version of MRAA’s 2020 Dealer Week. The Darlene Briggs Marine Woman of the Year Award is named after the late Darlene Briggs ...

The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas named this year’s marine industry Great Dealerships to Work For, online at the 2020 Dealer Week, the association’s annual conference and expo. Eight dealerships qualified for recognition by earning an overall score of 90% or better on the Marine Industry Certified Dealership Program’s annual Employee Satisfaction Survey. This survey, administered anonymously through the ...

More than 930 dealership personnel have registered for Dealer Week 2020, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas’ annual conference and expo, which kicks off online today. “When we began creating a plan for a virtual conference back in March, we believed that an online platform could extend the reach of our educational content significantly,” explained Matt Gruhn, MRAA President. ...

After a year filled with uncertainty and disruption, including the cancellation and postponement of many boating industry events and shows, NMMA president Frank Hugelmeyer shares his thoughts on the importance and future of boat shows: The unprecedented disruption from COVID-19 has been a blessing and curse for the recreational boating industry. On one hand, we have witnessed a remarkable shift ...