Cobalt 20 Group commits full endorsement of MRAA’s Dealer Week

Group of industry-leading dealers endorses, registers for MRAA’s annual conference.

The Cobalt Boats 20 Group, one of the marine industry’s leading dealer groups, has given its full endorsement of Dealer Week, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas’ Annual Conference and Expo, to be held Dec. 8-11, 2019, in Tampa, Fla.

Made up of 20 non-competing dealers, 20 Groups meet regularly throughout the year to share financials, best practices and insights in an effort to collaborate on each others’ success. The Cobalt 20 Group, which is facilitated by David Parker of Parker Business Planning, represents many of the marine industry’s top dealers, including not only eight of the top 10 Cobalt dealers in the world, but also 13 of the Top 100 Dealers; including six of the top 20 among the Top 100 and three Hall of Fame inductees/two-time Dealers of the Year.

“Our colleagues represented in the Cobalt 20 Group appreciate all the great work that the MRAA does on behalf of its dealers,” the Group said in a joint statement, “and we are fully confident that Dealer Week will be a huge success.”

The influential group of dealers has a history of supporting dealer-focused industry initiatives. For example, in 2011, when MRAA underwent a leadership change, the Cobalt 20 Group gave significant financial support and an endorsement of the organization to then-incoming-President Matt Gruhn. This latest announcement continues the group’s show of support for the association and the initiatives it has set forth in strengthening the opportunities it provides marine retailers.

“Our focus is and always has been about helping dealers grow and find greater success,” says Gruhn. “As Dealer Week has been built for dealers and by dealers, we are thrilled to have the support and endorsement from the Cobalt 20 Group and each of these dealers as we embark on this new era.”

About Dealer Week
For more than 40 years, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has delivered world class educational programming to dealers, retailers and service operations that power the boating industry and serve today’s boaters. Dealer Week evolves as MRAA’s rebranded and reimagined annual conference and expo, a profoundly new event experience designed to engage, energize and empower the dealer community. The MRAA envisions a brighter future for marine retail, and Dealer Week is the preeminent means for bringing that vision to life. Learn more at dealerweek.com.

About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the MRAA, our team believes that for the marine industry to thrive, the dealers on the front lines of the industry must first find success. With that in mind, we work to create a strong and healthy boating industry by providing dealers with tools, resources and educational programs — such as MRAATraining.com, the Marine Industry Certified Dealership Program, and Dealer Week, The MRAA Conference & Expo — and by representing those businesses with a powerful voice. For more information, visit mraa.com.

Join Us in D.C. and Educate Your Representatives

You are the industry’s most effective advocate. No lobbyist is as influential as an employer or employee from a Congress member’s district or state. Attending ABC and participating in Capitol Hill visits with others from your state is the best way to educate your representatives on issues that impact your business. It’s your opportunity to build and strengthen relationships that lead to a brighter future for the recreational boating industry.

This May 13-15, MRAA and other representatives of the recreational boating industry will convene in Washington DC 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.

MRAA will once again be participating as a sponsor and co-host of the event. The program will include appearances by Washington lawmakers and media personalities, customized visits to Capitol Hill, and exclusive events. Please contact MRAA’s Public Policy Manager Will Higgins to learn more: William@mraa.com.

Register for ABC here.

New Year, New Political Action. Contribute to BoatPAC.

BoatPAC is the recreational boating industry’s political action committee. It works by bringing all industry segments together to support candidates running for Congress who will represent and protect the interests of the recreational boating industry on Capitol Hill. But we need your help. Each year, we update our compliance records to ensure that we have a prior approval form signed by our members, which authorizes BoatPAC to communicate with or solicit you and your executive and administrative employees. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) requires that we have this form on file in order to send you BoatPAC related communications. Please know that BoatPAC will be respectful of your corporate policies when partnering with you on all communications.

Please help us update our records by signing the online BoatPAC Prior Approval form today.

We encourage you to learn more about BoatPAC by visiting www.BoatPAC.org.

 

If you have any questions about legislative issues, or something happening in your state, please contact Will Higgins.

Mike Davin To Direct MRAA Education Team

The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has announced the hiring of Mike Davin as the association’s new Director of Education.

Prior to joining MRAA, Mike served as Director of Marketing and Communications at The Event Group, where he partnered with clients on marketing, strategic planning and event management. In his role, he helped produce events of all sizes, from small meetings to large trade shows that drew attendees from around the world. He also spent four years in the marine and powersports industries, working for several consumer and business publications and helping plan multiple industry events.

“We are excited to welcome Mike back into the marine industry,” says Matt Gruhn, MRAA President. “He has already proven himself to be a valuable addition to the MRAA team.  We look forward to rolling out many of the great educational concepts he has already envisioned for the association, especially in a conference setting.”

The development and execution of future education at the MRAA will be a large component of Davin’s position. He will focus on delivering educational opportunities to MRAA’s members, partners and conference attendees at the MRAA’s Annual Conference and Expo, on MRAATraining.com and through custom publications.

“It’s great to be back in the marine industry and to reconnect with so many old friends and partners,” says Davin. “What really drew me to MRAA though is the team’s exciting vision for the future and the chance to work on initiatives like the reimagined MRAA Conference, Dealer Week. The enthusiasm in this organization for marine retail is inspiring, and I can’t wait to help bring some big ideas to life in 2019.”

Outside of the office, when he isn’t building world-class education for the marine industry, Mike can be found enjoying any activity that will entertain his two sons and one daughter.

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.

Gary Briggs named MRAA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient

The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas named Gary Briggs of Wayzata Marine as its 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

Recognizing Briggs at the MRAA Opening Awards Ceremony at its annual conference last month, MRAA celebrated his numerous accomplishments in the marine industry over the last 51 years. Briggs opened a start-up selling and servicing marine equipment in 1967 and spent his career serving the marine industry in numerous ways.

He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro Marine Dealers Association and has remained active for more than 50 years. He held a 43-year membership of the North Central Marine Association, and he became an MRAA member in the mid 1970s. And over the years, he was recognized as Boat & Motor Dealer magazine’ National Dealer of the Year, a 12-time Boating Industry Top 100 Dealer, an Irv Rosenthal Award winner and an NCMA Hall of Fame inductee.

“Gary Briggs has made a significant impact on the marine industry and particularly that of the marine retail body, to which he dedicated a career of contributions,” says Matt Gruhn, MRAA President. “Not only did he volunteer his time to several worthy causes in our industry, but he made it a priority to reach out and contribute, personally, to the success of a number of colleagues across the industry.”

Briggs became a founding member and the chairperson for the joint NMMA-MRAA Marine Industry Certification board; he became a spokesperson and a prominent figure through his time and efforts with the MRAA, and he championed a significant transformation in Consumer Warranty Policies. But the crowning achievement of his work was the creation of the Darlene Briggs Marine Woman of the Year Award, a 30-plus-year standing recognition of the incredible contributions of numerous women leaders in the marine industry. The award was named in honor of his late wife, Darlene, who was very active in their dealership until she passed away in 1986.

To conclude the second annual MRAA Opening Night Awards Celebration, Briggs gave a well-received, motivational presentation on how dealers could succeed in today’s marketplace. “It is very important to do what you say you will, when you say you will do it,” Briggs commented, “and always remember nothing happens, nothing, until someone sells something.”

The MRAA Lifetime Achievement Award was presented at the MRAA Opening Night Awards Celebration last month in Orlando, Fla..

 

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.

Volvo Penta named first MRAA, Dealer Week Strategic Partner

Volvo Penta, other Strategic Partners, will participate in dialog to help set MRAA initiatives and priorities.

Volvo Penta has signed on as the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas’ first Strategic Partner, the highest level of MRAA Partner Membership and support for Dealer Week, MRAA’s Annual Conference & Expo.
 
Celebrating its 43rd annual conference in 2019, MRAA has created an all-new approach to partner memberships and conference support, by developing a year-round program that embeds these highest-level partners in MRAA’s strategic dialog and planning. Volvo Penta, a leading supporter of the MRAA and its annual conference for many years, became the first partner to commit to the three-year program.

“Dealers are the critical link between manufacturers and boat owners, and they play a pivotal role in delivering a great boating experience to consumers,” said Ron Huibers, president and CEO of Volvo Penta of the Americas. “We are fully committed to supporting dealers as a long-time sponsor of MRAA, and we look forward to working together with the organization to launch the exciting new Dealer Week initiative.”

Under the rebranded name of Dealer Week, MRAA has reimagined its annual conference in a profoundly new event experience designed to engage, energize and empower boat and engine dealers and their teams so they can continue to lead the marine industry to greater growth and success. In addition to the world-class educational programming that the marine industry has come to expect from the MRAA, Dealer Week will deliver deeper collaborative opportunities and a richer experience that will showcase business solutions in all-new ways.

As part of this effort, MRAA has created a collaborative Strategic Alliance, through which Partners can support not only the MRAA and Dealer Week, but also provide input on MRAA’s strategic initiatives and priorities. The highest tier in the Strategic Alliance, known as Strategic Partners, represents an invitation-only opportunity to participate in and help shape strategic dialog with the MRAA board and staff. It also provides for maximum exposure to the marine industry in a year-round promotional campaign that seeks to identify these Partners as the backbone of the MRAA, both from a financial and strategic perspective.

“Our staff and board of directors are thrilled to embark on this new era of strategic dialog with our Partners and to collaborate with them to fine-tune our long-term strategy,” says Matt Gruhn, MRAA President. “With its ongoing and significant support of the MRAA and all that we do, it makes sense that Volvo Penta was the first to join forces with us on this next phase of MRAA delivering tools, resources and educational programming for today’s boat dealers.”

About Volvo Penta
Volvo Penta, with approximately 3,500 dealers in over 130 countries, is a world-leading and global manufacturer of engines and complete power systems for leisure boats, commercial vessels and industrial applications. Product offerings encompass diesel and gasoline engines with power outputs of between 10 and 1,000 hp. Volvo Penta is part of the Volvo Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of heavy trucks, buses and construction equipment. Connect with Volvo Penta of the Americas on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest company news and insights.

About Dealer Week
For more than 40 years, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has delivered world class educational programming to dealers, retailers and service operations that power the boating industry and serve today’s boaters. Dealer Week evolves as MRAA’s rebranded and reimagined annual conference and expo, a profoundly new event experience designed to engage, energize and empower the dealer community. The MRAA envisions a brighter future for marine retail, and Dealer Week is the preeminent means for bringing that vision to life. Learn more at www.DealerWeek.com.

About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the MRAA, our team believes that for the marine industry to thrive, the dealers on the front lines of the industry must first find success. With that in mind, we work to create a strong and healthy boating industry by providing dealers with tools, resources and educational programs — such as MRAATraining.com, the Marine Industry Certified Dealership Program, and Dealer Week, The MRAA Conference & Expo — and by representing those businesses with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com.

Recreation Leaders Meet with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Highlight Recreation Opportunities

Recreation Leaders, including MRAA’s Board President Joe Hoffmaster, met with Secretary Sonny Perdue, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment Jim Hubbard and other key officials in order to highlight recreation opportunities for 2019. The group noted the importance of national forests to many recreational activities, and highlighted the world-class experiences provided to anglers and skiers, hikers, climbers, campers, paddlers, boaters and motorized trail enthusiasts.  The recreation leaders underscored the key role national forests play in rural economies across the country and the importance of key provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill that will allow rural economic development grants for recreation infrastructure in rural America.

The Secretary said wildfire costs had impacted the department’s recent recreation efforts, and thanked the recreation industry for its role in recent legislation that should control future fire costs at USDA and allow the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the recreation industry to achieve new recreation successes built around partnerships.  He told the group about his initiatives for recreation during his tenure as governor of Georgia, boosting boat ramps, fishing programs, state parks and more.

ORR participants referred to positive actions already underway at USDA which are helpful to growing an industry that already accounts for 2.2% of the nation’s economy and supports 4.6 million jobs.  They emphasized the need for an improved recreation permitting process and urged expanded partnerships to improve access to, and enjoyment of, outdoor recreation on lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service.  They described opportunities for immediate progress, including:

  • Secretarial visits to sites demonstrating USDA partnerships supporting rural communities and the importance of broadband access in these gateway areas;
  • Secretarial support for innovative USFS recreation efforts which capitalize on private investments to expand and enhance recreation infrastructure, including campgrounds;
  • Making the revamped www.recreation.gov website – and its potential for providing information on recreation opportunities – more visible;
  • Overcoming the recreation permitting problems with electronic and simplified applications and timely processing;
  • Eliminating the maintenance backlog on USFS lands, especially where it threatens recreational activity;
  • Outreach to young Americans and expanded use of conservation corps;
  • Learning from the shutdown; and more.

Secretary Perdue said the meeting “has been very helpful,” and “We are committed to helping Americans enjoy recreational opportunities in our national forests.  I invite you to help by recommending specific priority steps. Let’s capitalize on the fact that recreation is agnostic relative to politics, and let’s help more Americans enjoy the great outdoors.

“We had an excellent conversation with Secretary Perdue,” said Thom Dammrich, ORR Chair and President of the National Marine Manufacturers Association. “He made clear that he supports the recreation industry and invites us to grow partnerships on the public lands and waters in the national forest system – 193 million acres, more than 400,000 acres of lakes, 4300 campgrounds and 160,000 miles of trails.  He invited our help in identifying specific steps forward and ORR will provide those.”

For more information on the meeting, click here.

If you have questions, please contact MRAA Public Policy Manager, Will Higgins.

How the Shutdown is Hurting Recreational Boating and the Outdoor Economy

In a recent Op-Ed published by The Hill, Outdoor Recreation Roundtable’s Executive Director Jessica Wahl described the impact that the partial government shutdown is having on the outdoor recreation community.

The outdoor recreation community is unified in its message to Congress and the administration to end this shutdown immediately so federal workers, small businesses, rural communities and American families can get back to work and continue to enjoy public lands and waters.

As the shutdown goes through its fourth week, the negative impacts on land and water stewardship, visitor experiences, access and safety are already being felt by the outdoor recreation industry, which employs 4.6 million Americans. Rural and gateway communities across the country that rely on visits to America’s great outdoors are at risk of being hurt even more the longer the shutdown drags on.

Spending the holiday in and around parks, I saw firsthand the shutdown’s impact on my favorite outdoor places. This past weekend, I joined many others clearing fallen trees off power lines and historic buildings, cleaning up trash and clearing trails in Shenandoah National Park and along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It gave me a new appreciation for the federal agency staff and their role in keeping our public lands safe and accessible.

Unfortunately, the shutdown is also adding to the growing $18.6 billion maintenance backlog on our public lands. Last year’s popular Restore our Parks and Public Lands Act — aimed at tackling the maintenance backlog on our public lands— had bipartisan support from hundreds of members of Congress and the administration. Yet every day the shutdown continues, we are losing much-needed revenue usually collected from entrance, camping and other recreation fees.

If shutdowns continue to become more prevalent – as we have seen in the past decade – there must be common-sense policy changes that keep our public lands open, safe and inoculated from issues that have nothing to do with the great outdoors.

While we applaud the many demonstrations of innovative partnerships involving states, gateway communities, concessioners, other business and nonprofits to maintain access and provide partnership services during this difficult time. We worry that as the shutdown lingers these efforts will become unsustainable, impacting access and safety beyond our parks, refuges and waterways.

We can use this time to point fingers or to build bridges. What the past month has made crystal clear is that love for our public lands is widespread and unifying. We have seen an impressive outpouring of support from industry groups, businesses, nonprofits and individuals who have been doing what they can to clean restrooms, clear trails and more.

The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) wants to harness that energy into a pragmatic dialogue around safeguarding the outdoors from being impacted during future shutdowns. Sites should continue to collect entrance fees, and land and water agency personnel should be considered “essential,” so that these treasured places can stay open safely and responsibly.

The great outdoors should not be the victim of unrelated issues. We call for uniform policies across the agencies so federal workers, businesses and public lands and waters are not put in this position of uncertainty time and time again.

The outdoor recreation community stands ready to join all policymakers in discussing and adopting future policies that will enable all to fully enjoy our public lands and waters, unlocking these uniquely American experiences, boosting healthier lifestyles and delivering a stronger economy.
 
Jessica Wahl is Executive Director of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR), America’s leading coalition of outdoor recreation trade associations and organizations working to promote the policy reforms needed to enhance the outdoor recreation economy. Combined, ORR members produce an annual $734 billion output for the U.S. economy, making up 2.2% of America’s GDP.

If you have questions, please contact MRAA Public Policy Manager, Will Higgins.

Busting a Few Myths

In my last blog, I wrote about the premise of Brad Staat’s book, Never Stop Learning. Because the knowledge we need to successfully run our businesses keeps changing, he argues, we need to keep learning. We now operate in a learning economy, not a knowledge economy.

If we need to be continuously learning, then it’s critical for us to know how we and our teams can best learn. As it turns out, much of what we think we know about education is wrong. Here are a few of the many myths about learning:

LEARNING IS AN EVENT. We often schedule education as if learning is an event – a conference, a workshop or a training day – with a beginning and end, something we can check off the list. The research suggests that’s not true. Learning is a four-step process that begins when you’re exposed to new information, like when a speaker gives an educational presentation or when you watch an online course. But don’t stop there. We need to consistently re-expose ourselves and the people we’re training to the new information after we first hear it. When we only take in the information once, chances are it will quickly fade out of our short-term memory before we store it as knowledge and before we have the opportunity to apply it. Our brain is like a video tape that quickly gets recorded over if we don’t proactively work to hold onto new information through repetition.

LEARNING DOESN’T DRIVE RESULTS. The most common reason for this myth is simply that what most people call learning is only the first step of the learning process: Being exposed to new information. If you skip the other three steps, you’ll never truly learn something new, apply it to your business or experience the results.

LEARNING BELONGS IN THE CLASSROOM (NOT THE DEALERSHIP). Research shows us that people typically forget 90 percent of the information they are exposed to in a class within 30 days. The majority of this forgetting occurs within the first few hours after class. That’s because learning is a four-step process, and the classroom is just step one. And of course, the classroom is not the only place you can turn for new information. There are digital publications, books, podcasts, workshops, online courses, conferences and more. The real work involved in learning – and the real rewards – come when you take the information you’ve been exposed to, hold it up against what you’ve experienced in the past (step two), consider how it might apply to your day-to-day responsibilities in the future (step three), and then experiment with it in the dealership (step four).

NO TALKING IN SCHOOL. The truth is the exact opposite. When we discuss what we’re learning with others, not only do we create repetition, which helps us hold onto that information in our memory, but we have the opportunity to reflect out loud on how it applies to what we already know and have experienced, and how we might apply it moving forward. Those are critical steps in the learning process. BONUS: When you as a leader in your dealership talk about what you’re learning and how you might use it to improve and grow, you inspire and encourage others to consider their own learning opportunities.

CRAM FOR THE TEST. Cramming works great if it’s only important that you remember something for a short period of time. But if you want to hold onto it for the long haul (and maybe even USE what you’re learning at work), space out your repetition. Schedule a once a week practice of a key new process or strategy. Research shows that such repetition is needed even years after you’ve supposedly learned something “for good.” Even your most experienced team members can gain huge benefit from refresher classes.

TAKE YOUR SEAT, OPEN YOUR EARS. In reality, the more senses involved in your dealership education – such as seeing, hearing and touching – the more likely you and your team will remember it when it comes time to use what you’re learning. That’s why an audio recording is good, but a video is even better. And a course that involves not just video, but also activities, tests and homework is even more effective. Research suggests that if information is presented orally, people remember about 10 percent 72 hours after exposure. Add a picture and that percentage goes up to 65 percent. As a human, our vision is our most powerful sense. The more your training is a multi-sensory experience, the higher the chances you will retain it.

MRAA takes all of this to heart. We work with the experts to design in-person and online education, resources and tools available to you and your employees all year long. They are designed specifically to achieve REAL learning and drive REAL results. And we’re here whenever you need us to guide you along the way.

Priority One’s Growing Equipment Finance Division Increases Staff

Priority One Financial Services, Inc., the industry’s oldest and largest F&I outsourcing provider, adds Kristopher Dobrowski and Mark Schiller to its equipment finance division. This division is dedicated to helping both dealers’ and their customers with their commercial finance and leasing needs. These include financing of dealership equipment (service trucks, forklifts, repair lifts), heavy marina equipment (lifts, hoists, tractors), work vehicles (buses, pickups, limousines), trailers (cargo, flatbed, gooseneck) and more.

Kris joined Priority One in 2010 and recently moved into the equipment finance division as a commercial finance manager.  His responsibilities include securing new accounts, managing applications, loan and lease consulting and communicating with lenders, dealers and businesses looking to finance equipment.

Mark is no stranger to Priority One either, as he was a business manager prior to accepting the position of equipment finance account manager.  In his new position, Mark will be responsible for bringing new dealer partners aboard, managing current partners to ensure satisfaction and attending industry shows.

Nicole Armstrong, Vice President of Sales & Marketing of Priority One comments, “We are happy with the progress we have seen in our commercial equipment financing services and are excited to bring additional, well-qualified professionals into this expanding division.  Both Kris and Mark’s many years of experience within the company will prove to be very valuable in helping grow the equipment finance division.”                      

About Priority One Financial Services
Priority One has been serving the marine and RV industry since 1987. Acquired in 2007 by Forest River, Inc. a Berkshire Hathaway company, Priority One serves as the F&I managed services provider for hundreds of dealers nationwide. For more information, visit www.P1FS.com.