If the industry adage is true, fishermen will remain active in the boating market even in tough times. I know several dealers who readily confirm that without the anglers who are still buying boats, their dealerships would be DOA. So, the worth of fishing to our industry cannot be overstated. (Read More…)

We’re in a battle . . . and losing is not an option! I’ve written before about the looming debacle that will come for every boater this September if Congress does not exempt us from a required EPA discharge permit! (Read More…)

NMMA’s Washington lobbying team did a great job of getting some provisions into the recently passed energy bill that will slow down the push for increased mid grade levels over E10 in the nation’s gasoline. But I fear it’s kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground! (Read More…)

The difference between providing good or bad customer service in a dealership may be more generational than we recognize. As reported recently in the Philadelphia Inquirer, it has a name – the Service Gap. (Read More…)

I was addressing the All-Ohio Boating Legislative Conference in Columbus yesterday and I asked how many attendees were familiar with the pending EPA requirement that all boaters get a discharge permit beginning this September? I was taken back when only a few hands went up and most of those were attendees from the Ohio Division of Watercraft. (Read More…)

Kudos to Van Snider, President, and all the members of the Michigan Boating Industries Association (MBIA). As previously reported in TradeOnlyToday’s e-mail newsletter and on  Trade Talk blogs (www.TradeOnlyToday.com), attendance at their Detroit Boat Show (Feb. 16-24) was 85,087 this year, up a whopping 19.2% over last year. (Read More…)

It was anything but cold for dealers in Alaska’s House Judiciary Committee hearing room on February 13 when H.B. 303 received a favorable Committee vote. But the fact there’s a bill in Alaska’s legislature at all sadly indicates that the decades-long quest for better dealer agreements rolls on. (Read More…)

When the Discover Boating national campaign unveiled its TV commercial “Dogs Need Weekends, Too” I must admit I was skeptical. “Dogs on boats just don’t have an appealing advertising message,” I commented. Boy was I wrong. What I failed to understand is that America’s love of pets is roaring on! For example, we’re now a nation of 75 million pet dogs. (Read More…)