Roxanne Rockvam, of Rockvam Boat Yards, located in Spring Park, Minn., continues to be a strong advocate for boating and water preservation. We had the chance to ask her a few questions about working in her family’s business and her new initiatives, Pontoongirl.com and the Clean Boater Pledge. Q: First of all, tell us a […]

Mike Davin, MRAA’s Director of Education, was recently featured on the Boat Dealer Profits Podcast talking about our reimagined conference experience, Dealer Week. We’ve summarized the 30-minute podcast into nine key highlights listed below (with timestamps). You can listen to the whole interview here. Dealer Week is built for dealers, by dealers. (1:50) We sat […]

Last week, MRAA and other representatives of the recreational boating industry convened in Washington, D.C. for the annual American Boating Congress. ABC is the industry’s primary political and legislative gathering, where all sectors of recreational boating work for three full days to present a unified front to Congress on the critical issues impacting our industry. […]

We had the chance to ask Stephanie Vatalaro, of the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, a few questions about their newest campaign and the other efforts RBFF is taking in order to increase the number of people getting out on the water and participating in outdoor recreation. To get started, we would love to hear […]

I recently completed Skills for Success, a Dale Carnegie course, and one of the many things that I learned was the “Be, Do, Get” concept. The idea is to craft a short statement that outlines the growth you are interested in achieving. I thought this was pretty cool, and could be applied to all areas […]

At the MRAA, our job is to help our members become more successful, so we’re constantly trying to better understand their pain points. In recent years, we frequently hear from dealers that their biggest struggles are “workforce challenges” – often in the form of a lack of qualified technicians. With a shortage of readily available […]

Step One: Evalute As a marine retailer, you know that digital marketing is one of the fastest changing areas of your business. You have heard that your website is now your business’ “virtual storefront.” So with that understanding, it is key that your website not only provides its users with great content, BUT it also […]

How has boat show season impacted your outlook for the prime selling season and remainder of the year ahead? I found the show season to be good, but not stellar. The major price increase due to tariffs in Canada has caused sticker shock to potential boat buyers. High end product is selling, whereas mid-range product […]

If you are north of the Mason Dixon, like the MRAA headquarters, it is hard to imagine a day that the sun is shining and you can be outdoors with out navigating piles (and piles) of snow. But, as it does each year, winter leaves and springtime starts. For many of you, springtime is hectic. […]

Bob Bense, of Superior Boat Repair & Sales, was the 100th individual to register for Dealer Week! With the help of his wife, Kathy, the couple compiled a list of 50 reasons why they continue to support the MRAA and, now, Dealer Week. We signed up for the Dealer Week because the MRAA team continues […]