Author: Matt Gruhn

How to plan for success in 2021

Every year the market place throws a mix of new challenges at you and your business. Whether they’re personnel changes, technological obstacles, product line updates or evolving customer or partner preferences, they change the dynamics of how you approach selling and servicing boats.   With little-to-no warning, the boating industry changed forever with the health […]

Safe Boating, The 2020 Version

If you’re not one of the many marine industry disciples who actually wore their life jacket to work last Friday — affectionately known as Wear Your Life Jacket to Work Day — you should be aware that the week prior to Memorial Day here in the States is always honored as National Safe Boating Week.   […]

This time, it’s different

With the memory of the significant toll that the Great Recession had on our industry still somewhat fresh in our minds, I think it’s important to note that this downturn is different in a number of ways.   Between the crash in 2008 and the middle of 2010, nearly 2,000 boat dealerships were forced out […]

Help MRAA Support our Industry

As businesses across our industry fight to navigate the landscape of federal stimulus packages, there’s an untold story you should be aware of.   That is that the organizations the government designates to support their respective industries — which in this case means almost every single one of the marine trade associations you know today […]

“Way more interest in boats” dealers report

  In a news cycle that’s heavy with bad news, it’s important to underscore the positive things happening around the marine industry. And there’s a lot to take note of, so I thought I’d spend some time sharing what we’re hearing.   Little by little, politicians are noting the importance of outdoor recreation in today’s […]

Dealers need more relief

As the CARES Act stimulus program was running out of money last week, nearly 60 percent of the boat dealers that responded to MRAA’s research reported that they had applied but had yet to receive their funds.   As noted in an early-April survey, close to 90 percent of boat dealers had already applied or […]