new marine industry podcast from MRAA

MRAA Launches ‘The Boat Biz’ Podcast

• New podcast aimed at highlighting insights, opportunities and actionable content for the marine industry

MINNEAPOLIS, September 13, 2022 — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has launched an all-new podcast, titled “The Boat Biz,” focused on delivering insights, discussing opportunities and providing actionable content for the marine industry to act on.

MRAA launches The Boat Biz podcast with President Matt Gruhn
MRAA “The Boat Biz” podcast will include conversations with guests within the boating industry and MRAA President Matt Gruhn.

The Boat Biz podcast, which now has four episodes live, features guests from around the marine industry to provide insights from every corner of the complex business of selling and servicing boats. It is available through such popular platforms as Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon and Audible and Anchor.fm, and will soon be available on other mediums.

“We realize that in order for our industry to be successful, we need to provide up-to-date insights both to our dealers and about our dealers to the industry,” explains Matt Gruhn, MRAA President and host of The Boat Biz Podcast. “This podcast format allows us the opportunity to talk about the important topics that the boating industry needs to know about, through the wisdom of each episode’s special guests.”

The inaugural episode of The Boat Biz featured an in-depth conversation with Liz Walz, MRAA’s Vice President of Education, as she helped explain the wealth of educational programs that MRAA makes available to the marine industry. Episode 2 featured Ann Baldree and Buck Pegg from boat builder Chaparral and Robalo. And Episodes 3 and 4 were recorded on-location at the National Marine Lenders Association conference, featuring Wells Fargo Distribution Finance’s Chad Lyon, as well as President of the NMLA board and Senior Vice President at Medallion Bank, John Haymond.

Matt Gruhn, Ann Baldree and Buck Pegg of Chaparral Robalo Boats caught up at the company's recent dealer meeting.
The MRAA’s Matt Gruhn, Ann Baldree and Buck Pegg of Chaparral Robalo Boats caught up at the company’s recent dealer meeting.

“These first four episodes demonstrate the variety of experts we’ll be featuring,” Gruhn explains, “in our effort to help dealers and industry insiders keep a pulse on the key factors driving the boat business. Our next series of episodes will feature boat dealers, as well, and what they’re doing to find for success in today’s market and plan for success in the year ahead.”

The concept for this all-new podcast surfaced during the MRAA’s strategic planning session, which collected insights and direction from boat builder and supplier partners, in addition to the dealers on MRAA’s board of directors, representation from MRAA’s Young Leaders Advisory Council, special dealer guests, and the MRAA staff. This three-year plan prioritized the sharing of insights from the MRAA and the many industry leaders the association interfaces with on a regular basis.

About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, we believe that for the marine industry to thrive, the retail organizations that interact with the boaters in their community must thrive. With that in mind, MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those retailers, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com or contact us at 763-315-8043.