Attendance Growth, Sold Out Expo Hall Mark 2015 MDCE
Boating industry’s premier educational conference featured three days of professional development
Orlando, FL — Final tabulations have been completed, and it’s official: the 2015 Marine Dealer Conference and Expo (MDCE) featured more than 4-percent growth in retail attendance, a 21-percent jump in Pre-Conference Workshop registrations, and a sold-out Expo Hall with more than 100 exhibitors.
A total of 1,147 marine industry professionals from throughout North America and as far away as Australia traveled to Orlando this November for MDCE 2015, which is co-produced by Boating Industry magazine and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA). That compares to the 1,130 industry professionals who attended in 2014.
“We introduced several new offerings for 2015 to increase the value of the event for all who participated,” said Liz Walz, vice president of MRAA. “The numbers and the feedback we received during the show suggest that both dealers and exhibitors felt the positive impact of those changes.”
Represented at this year’s MDCE were 238 total dealerships, accounting for 875 separate locations and cummulatively employing more than 30,000 people. More than 40 percent of 2015 retail attendees were attending their first MDCE, and nearly 95 percent were current MRAA members. Further, more than 100 organizations representing almost every sector of the pleasure boating industry set up shop for the week at the Orange County Convention Center — filling in excess of 40,000 square-feet of exhibit space.
“The enhanced level of engagement of our attendees with each other, our experts and our exhibitors was particularly noteworthy,” said Jonathan Sweet, editor-in-chief of Boating Industry. “I was also pleased to see the MDCE app had more than 950 downloads and north of 13,000 sessions. It’s just one more way dealers are taking full advantage of the MDCE experience.”
As a result of their expansion in 2015, the MDCE Pre-Conference Workshops generated 266 registrations, up more than 21 percent year-over-year. During the 12 hands-on seminars, which were offered prior to the MDCE Opening Keynote, marine retailers worked alongside industry experts on areas of their business ranging from sales training to leadership, and from service department scheduling to social media strategy.
About the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo
The Marine Dealer Conference & Expo is the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas’ annual conference and member meeting. As the marine industry’s only dealer-specific educational conference, MDCE offers an in-depth lineup of educational topics, a full-featured expo hall and a series of fixed networking opportunities, all of which are designed to help marine dealers connect with and learn from others who can foster their success. MDCE is co-produced by MRAA and Boating Industry, and it features Educational Tracks, Pre-Conference Workshops, Opening and Closing Keynote presentations, and the all-new Learning Labs. The 2015 was held Nov. 15-18 at the Orange County Convention Center, Rosen Plaza Hotel and Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Fla. The 2016 event will also be held in Orlando and is scheduled for Dec. 5-8. For more information, visit marinedealerconference.com.
About Boating Industry
Boating Industry is the leading trade magazine serving the marine industry. For more than 85 years, boating professionals have turned to Boating Industry for market intelligence, product updates, best practices and industry news. For more information, visit BoatingIndustry.com.
About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting marine retail businesses, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com.
ARI Schedules Next Edition of HelpForce Live! Webinar Series for Marine Dealers
ARI Schedules Next Edition of HelpForce Live! Webinar Series for Marine Dealers, January 12, 2016
Charting Your 2016 Digital Marketing Game Plan
Dealers can join ARI’s Director of Digital Marketing, Bill Wagner, and ARI’s Content Marketing Producer, Jessica Lee, for this information-packed session to learn how to build a digital strategy that works. Following the webinar, attendees will be sent a digital planning calendar template.
Interested dealers can register for the event at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1132391793968164609
ARIS) offers an award-winning suite of data-driven software tools and marketing services to help dealers, equipment manufacturers and distributors in selected vertical markets Sell More Stuff!™ – online and in-store. Our innovative products are powered by a proprietary data repository of enriched original equipment and aftermarket electronic content spanning more than 17 million active part and accessory SKUs and 750,000 equipment models. Business is complicated, but we believe our customers’ technology tools don’t have to be. We remove the complexity of selling and servicing new and used vehicle inventory, parts, garments and accessories (PG&A) for customers in the automotive tire and wheel aftermarket, powersports, outdoor power equipment, marine, home medical equipment, recreational vehicles and appliance industries. More than 23,500 equipment dealers, 195 distributors and 3,360 brands worldwide leverage our web and eCatalog platforms to Sell More Stuff!™ For more information on ARI, visit investor.arinet.com.
Additional Information
· Follow @ARI_Net on Twitter: twitter.com/ARI_Net
· Become a fan of ARI on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ARInetwork
· Join us on G+: plus.google.com
· LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com
· Read more about ARI: investor.arinet.com/about-us
Media inquiries, contact:
Colleen Malloy, Director of Marketing, ARI, 414.973.4323, colleen.malloy@arinet.com
New Sales Tax Law Gives NJ Boating Industry Big Boost
Via the Marine Trades Association of New Jersey (MTA/NJ):
The recreational boating industry in New Jersey was given a big boost this month when Governor Christie signed a new sales tax bill into law. The bill provides a partial exemption and maximum sales and use tax imposition amount for boats and vessels, as well as establishes a grace period for use tax imposition on certain boats and vessels used by resident purchasers.
“This is a tremendous victory for the industry and boating in New Jersey,” stated MTA/NJ Executive Director, Melissa Danko. “We are very thankful to everyone that helped make this happen, including our legislative sponsors Senator Van Drew and Assemblyman Andrzejczak and especially Governor Christie for expanding the tax savings on all boats, signing this important legislation into law and supporting the boating industry in New Jersey. This new law will not will not only get more people out on the water enjoying our waterways but will ensure the future health and growth of the New Jersey recreational boating industry by increasing revenues and creating jobs.”
This new law reduces the tax rate to 3.5 percent across the board for boats, regardless of the price of the boat — with a cap of $20,000. The bill also includes a 30-day grace period for use tax imposition. The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 35-1 and the Assembly approved it 64-0.
Click here to read the entire bill
“Our industry has been struggling for many years following the economic downturn, the devastation of Hurricane Sandy and competition from other states with many lost sales,” Melissa said. “This new law will not only get more people out on the water enjoying our waterways but will ensure the future health and growth of the New Jersey recreational boating industry by increasing revenues and creating jobs.”
Senator Van Drew stated in a release, “The production of boats and other vessels has declined in recent years due to a range of factors, including the economic recession and the impact of Superstorm Sandy. This new law will help to revive the industry through changes to our tax structure. It will allow us to compete with states like Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Florida. Ultimately, it will help to bring back consumers to our state for these purchases, supporting our shore-area businesses and growing local jobs.”
In summary, these new changes expand the tax savings to a larger segment of boat sales in the state. The sales tax will be reduced to 50 percent of the tax for every boat sold in New Jersey.
“I want to thank the governor for working with us and for signing this legislation, which is so important to New Jersey. Reducing the sales tax amount on non-commercial boats will provide a much-needed boost to the industry that we expect will have a real, lasting impact for years to come,” Senator Van Drew stated.
MRAA Named 2015 Association of the Year by MSAE
MRAA) has been selected from a distinguished field of nominees and recently named the “2015 Association of the Year” by the Midwest Society of Association Executives (MSAE). The award was presented during MSAE’s annual leadership conference in St. Cloud.
Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Minneapolis, the MRAA renders educational, developmental, legislative, regulatory and promotional services to boat retailers located in all 50 states and throughout Canada. Membership uncorks a dynamic benefit bundle that includes the industry’s only dealer certification program, customized marketing solutions, discounted insurance rates, warranty processing and access to a vast archive of interactive training material.
The leading edge of MRAA’s member benefit package centers around the popular Marine Industry Certified Dealership Program, which offers a roadmap to developing and maintaining a successful dealership. Retooled and modernized under the direction of Sonja Moseley, participation in the certification program has grown by more than 50 percent over the last two years and now includes online portals covering areas ranging from techniques to maximize sales and enhancing customer satisfaction to search engine optimization and digitizing inventory.
Additionally, more than 1,100 retailers, marina owners and boat builders recently attended the annual Marine Dealers Conference and Expo in Orlando—hosted jointly by MRAA and Boating Industry Magazine. The gathering is the largest educational event of its kind in North America and features an itinerary stacked with marquee speakers, laser-focused seminars covering a dynamic array of subject matter and events designed specifically for young professionals.
Coast Guard Bill Placed on Senate Calendar
Coast Guard Bill Placed on Senate Calendar
Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 (or S. 1611), sponsored by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, has been placed on the Senate’s calendar for an upcoming vote. The measure authorizes U.S. Coast Guard funding through 2017.
contents affecting U.S. boat dealers include $1.5 million for the National Recreational Boating Survey and reauthorization of the Sportfish Restoration and Recreational Boating Safety Act. Additionally, the bill’s contents direct the Coast Guard to begin developing a model for a national recreational vessel training curriculum and education standards for operators of recreational vessels equipped with propulsion machinery of any kind.
How You Can Support the Miami International Boat Show
How You Can Support the Miami International Boat Show
As both members of the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas and dealers representing hundreds of boat lines across North America, you know and understand the important role boat shows play in introducing new and current boaters to the boating lifestyle’s latest and greatest offerings — not to mention kicking off the selling season.
You’ve likely been following the developments and challenges surrounding the Miami International Boat Show, one of the most significant and influential shows in our industry, and celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2016. Most recently, MiamiDade County delayed a vote on issuing a key permit for the February event.
We’re writing to you today to ask you to help us unite as an industry and make our voices heard by signing a petition in support of the event. Our elected officials in MiamiDade County, as well as our Congressional representatives, need to hear from you about why the Miami International Boat Show is important and valuable to Miami, the State of Florida and the marine industry.
Please take just a moment right now to demonstrate your support of the show to members of the MiamiDade County Commission and Congress who hold the future of the Miami International Boat Show in their hands.
It’s simple, just click below and sign your name.
Inside the New U.S. Transportation Bill and How it Affects Boat Dealers
Inside New U.S. Transportation Bill and How it Affects Boat Dealers
S. 1611, sponsored by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, has been placed on the Senate calendar for an upcoming vote. The measure authorizes U.S. Coast Guard funding through 2017.
The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has, alongside the Angling & Boating Alliance (ABA) and National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), worked for nearly three years on updates and revisions to the Sportfish Trust Fund.
Leaders within both the recreational boating and fishing sectors believe these updates will strengthen what is already the world’s premier aquatic conversation and boating access program, while
The recently passed transportation bill includes language allotting up to $1.5 million for a survey to gauge of levels of recreational boating participation and related matters in the U.S. Other notable policies contained in the 1,300-page bill include:
● New language regarding the $1.2 million that funds the Sport Fish and Boating Partnership Council and the four fisheries commissions but with no substantive policy or funding change from present law.
● Provisions regarding the distribution of funds to Boating Infrastructure Grants (BIG) and Clean Vessel Act (CVA) grants in an effort to find administrative fund efficiencies and to provide states with more flexibility in how they use these funds.
● Alters the $3 million MultiState Conservation Grant Program from an off-the-top deduction and includes it in the SFR distribution.
● Provides a new and different way to arrive at the Coast Guard administrative fees as a hard cost total amount off the top.
● Of the total amount, $2.1 is for the manufacturer’s compliance program (aka Chapter 43), and the remainder ($4.3 million in FY16) for administering the state grant program (currently done with the 2 percent of the RBS distribution, which is about $2 million) and for conducting the Coast Guard Recreational Boating Safety program.
(Information provided, in part, by the National Marine Manufacturers Association)
Sound Off! Help Shape How Feds Classify Boating Occupations
Are YOU interested in having your voice heard when it comes to how the U.S. government classifies and tracks various occupations at your dealership?
If so, please accept this invitation to join a special teleconference call this Wednesday, Dec. 9, to discuss updates to the “Standards of Occupational Classification,” a document currently being drafted and intended to accurately reflect the recreational marine industry’s impact on the nation’s economy.
At issue: the marine industry’s data — often under represented, reported and/or hidden in larger categories of workers — used to compile the federal government’s labor statistics. This results in the economic significance of jobs not being properly calculated.
Hosted by Mike Lewan of the National Marine Manufacturers Association and Duncan Smith, a consultant working with south Florida’s MTA, this week’s call will explain strategy behind “crowd sourcing” industry job titles. Among the agenda items will be a discussion on how the descriptions of any occupational activities or jobs in the marine industry are needed, including those in manufacturing, repair, retail and training.
All data compiled through the first part of 2016 will be used to draft the final “Direct Match Title,” which will be filed with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. All trade associations, dealerships and other organizations with information on job titles and work performed in the marine industry are asked to submit their data for inclusion on the report — helping to ensure more specificity is included in the government’s Standard Occupational Codes and ensuring a more accurate reflection of the marine industry’s economic impact. T
hose interested in participating in both this week’s conference call and the ongoing report creation are asked to contact Michael Lewan at mlewan@nmma.org by Dec. 9.
Helpful link: http://www.nmma.org/press/article/20238
Roy Finney, Jr. Named 2015 Duane Spader Scholarship Recipient
Roy Finney Jr., vice president of The Boat Shop in Tafton, Pa., has been selected as the 2015 recipient of the third annual Duane Spader Leadership Development Scholarship. The scholarship was officially announced Wednesday morning, Nov. 18, during an awards breakfast taking place as part of the annual Marine Dealer Conference & Expo at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.
“Having an opportunity to cultivate the next generation of leaders is immensely fulfilling,” David Spader, primary instructor of the Spader Leadership Development Program, said. “I look forward to working with Roy and helping him become the leader he wants to be.”
Roy will receive full tuition, valued at $14,875, to attend the intensive Spader Leadership Development Program, an 18-month course designed for current and future marine industry leaders. The curriculum tasks students with taking lessons from a series of five, three-day seminars and applying them to day-to-day operations at their respective dealerships.
“As an individual I have aspirations of growing my business, my family and, of course, myself,” Roy wrote in his scholarship application. “I need to lead my family as a mentor and role model, lead my business by making sure my team has the tools, knowledge and foundation to succeed—in good times and bad—and also lead myself to try to better who I am every single day. With the help of this scholarship, I can do that.”
Roy has spent his entire life on the shores of Lake Wallenpaupack, located just east of Scranton and Pennsylvania’s third-largest freshwater lake. Roy’s father began selling Scott-Atwater outboards and wooden whirlwinds back in 1962, and instilled in his son the importance of quality service and attention to detail. Still, Roy, Jr. never intended to make a career in the boating industry.
When his dad was diagnosed with colon cancer last November, Roy finalized a decision to shelve medical school and return home to pilot the family business.
“I made the choice to stay home, and after literally a two-week crash course in the day-to-day operations of the business I was in a managerial role while he underwent surgery and recovery,” Roy said. “Luckily we had a great staff and they covered up my inadequacies, but to say it was a trial by fire is an understatement.”
Father and son have since set up a succession plan, and The Boat Shop was again named a “Top 100 Dealer” in 2015 by Boating Industry Magazine. Roy Jr. says he eagerly accepts the challenge of continuing his family’s rich tradition of retail and service excellence, stressing the opportunity to attend the Spader Leadership Development Program will be a key cog in carrying out that mission.
“The boating industry and the people who make it successful have always been a big part of Spader Business Management’s work,” David said. “Helping to lay the groundwork for its continued success is both an honor and a privilege. In Roy’s case, he has a running start thanks to his father’s sweat and sacrifice. Now he has the opportunity to build on that strong foundation and lead the business into the future.”
Founded in 2013 by Spader Business Management and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) Educational Foundation, the scholarship honors the contributions of Duane Spader to the marine industry. The Spader Leadership Development Program takes place in Sioux Falls, SD and Fort Lauderdale, FL and specializes in cultivating the next generation of business leaders.
About MRAA Educational Foundation
As part of its mission to create a strong and healthy boating industry, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas is committed to offering training, education and professional development opportunities to its members and the entire marine dealer community. In 2004, the association launched the MRAA Educational Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 corporation, to provide financial support for education, training and professional development in the recreational marine trades. For more information, visit MRAA.com/foundation.
Miami Boat Show Opposition Prompts Call for Support from National Marine Manufacturers Association
Dear Colleagues,
We need your help! As many of you know, we are moving our Miami International Boat Show to its new home at Miami Marine Stadium Park and Basin for the 2016 show, February 11–15.
In light of some of the press you may have seen, we can assure you, the boat show will happen in February and we are continuing to move ahead with plans. That said, we need your help demonstrating how many people and businesses are impacted by the show so we can be louder about the need to prevent any politics from blurring what is most important—producing the greatest boat show in the world and supporting the South Florida community!
I ask that you add your voice to our petition and encourage you to share our petition with your Florida and South Florida-based employees, colleagues, business associates, and anyone else who supports or works in the marine industry. Click HERE to show your support now!
With misguided opposition to the boat show from the Village of Key Biscayne—opposition that is based on mistruths—we have decided enough is enough and want to express how important it is that we move past politics and focus on the facts.
The facts are that the boat show has an exemplary environmental track record, one of the most comprehensive event traffic plans the City has ever seen, and is not costing the State of Florida or Miami-Dade a dime. Instead, it creates nearly $600 million in annual economic activity, supports more than 55,000 marine industry jobs in Florida and generates more than $30 million in sales tax revenue, while continuing a beloved 74-year tradition.
Thank you for your continued support! We look forward to seeing you at the show in February and are truly excited about what will be a phenomenal event!
Sincerely,
Thom Dammrich President, NMMA
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