Senators Manchin, Graham Introduce Legislation to Pause Right Whale Vessel Speed Rule

• MRAA Applauds Efforts to Protect Industry and Imperiled Wildlife

WASHINGTON, D.C, August 7, 2024 – The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas applauds the work of Senators Manchin (I-WV) and Graham (R-SC) for introducing S.4948, the bipartisan Protecting Whales, Human Safety, and the Economy Act of 2024 and continuing to be champions of the recreational boating industry.

The act aims to block implementation of the Proposed Right Whale Vessel Speed Rule while also putting in place a grant program through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund research on technological monitoring solutions for mariners, aimed at reducing encounters with the North Atlantic Right Whale. The Senate legislation complements H.R. 8704, legislation sponsored by Representatives Mary Peltola (D-AK) and Buddy Carter (R-GA), which MRAA Chairman of the Board and Owner of Strong’s Marine, Jeff Strong, testified on before the House Committee on Natural Resources in June.

Senators Manchin, Graham Introduce Legislation to Pause Right Whale Vessel Speed Rule

“We cannot thank Senators Manchin and Graham enough for their continued support and leadership on this important issue,” said Mike Sayre, MRAA Director of Government Relations. “It is no secret that technology exists today that can be leveraged now to better monitor the North Atlantic Right Whale and help avoid encounters between them and recreational boaters; however, this legislation will build upon current technology to find new and innovative ways to protect this important species.”  

MRAA has continued to put pressure on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Biden administration, educating key officials and members of Congress about the impact the proposed rule will have on MRAA members and the marine industry at large.

In May, MRAA and the Association of Marina Industries (AMI) met with the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to highlight the impact the proposed rule will have on our members, highlighting the economic impact the proposed rule stands have and the likely $2 billion impact on marine retailers and marinas alone.

“Despite our continued efforts with the White House and NOAA, we must continue to pursue a legislative solution, because if this rule is finalized as currently drafted the proposed rule will have devastating impacts on MRAA members and the industry at large,” said Chad Tokowicz, MRAA Government Relations Manager. “Thankfully, our allies in the House and Senate continue to work with us to find a solution to better protect this important charismatic megafauna while maintaining access for recreational boaters, and we cannot thank them enough for their continued support and partnership.”

As the MRAA and our industry partners continue to fight back against the proposed Right Whale Vessel Speed rule be sure to sign up for alerts on Boating United to stay in the loop and engaged with any calls to action. If you have any questions please reach out to Tokowicz at Chad@mraa.com.

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.

Visit the MRAA Advocacy page to connect with our team.

7 Steps to Take to Conserve Cash

Developing and maintaining sufficient cash on hand during an economic slump is critical to keeping your dealership healthy. When revenue is lower than expected, leading dealerships balance revenue growth efforts with exploring and implementing cash conservation methods.

7 Steps to take to conserve cash


Here are seven tips for conserving cash shared within an MRAA Ask the Expert webinar with Pat Kennedy of Spader Business Management (now NCM Associates) a few years back that continue to be relevant today. On your quest for maximum financial health, consider implementing these strategies to help stabilize and sustain your business.

  1. Take control of the Purchase Order book – In good times, bad habits can happen. One of those habits is allowing a large number of team members to make buying decisions. If your business is getting tight, it’s time for owners, principals and key decision-makers to take the reins of the PO book again. Having too many people responsible for purchasing can cost you money and lead to inventory surpluses. You need to understand your current balance of parts and accessories and be able to turn old inventory rather than leaving money on your shelves. Rule of thumb: Look for dust and think of your inventory as currency on the shelf, not hard parts!  
  2. Do a line-item analysis of your expenses – Print a detailed general ledger report for your entire dealership. Now is the time to go through every expense by each line item. Ask why. Dig deeper to find cost savings by eliminating things that have not moved the needle!
  3. Negotiate with business partners – Contact trusted sources for term extensions and available trade discounts. Keep the mindset that this is a partnership you’ll want to continue to have down the road, so maintain your bridges. Don’t burn them. It’s about collaboration and continuing your relationship for years to come.
  4. Review your advertising and marketing spend – Of course, it’s time to innovate, but you can’t afford to speculate these days. If you’ve been doing things because it felt right, it’s time to dig deeper into your results and costs to determine your ROI. Find an expert to help you if your team cannot figure it out. Assign your GM or managers to investigate your website’s lead generations and follow-up times. Closely monitoring leads can create accountability and improve processes.
  5. Establish internal guidelines around used inventory acquisition – To manage cash and any used inventory, you need to know where you are currently! Establish your predetermined limitations for successful negotiations with customers to avoid creating a cash hole.
  6. Expense control scavenger hunt – Gather your team and departments to generate cost-saving ideas. Break them into smaller teams and have them brainstorm ways to conserve cash. You can add incentives like lottery tickets or a free lunch for the winning team. This welcomes the team into this strategic process. It also reduces the stress on frontline employees who want to feel that they can contribute to helping the company through challenging times.
  7. Right size! – This means finding the right balance between your team’s ability to generate revenue and your need to cut costs, which is different in every region for every business. Remember that the revenue builders within your workforce are key to the performance of your business. Your administrative costs are paid for by your frontline employees! It is critical to keep productive people onboard to generate the income you need to cover your overhead costs. Simply changing roles can sometimes help create the outcome you desire. Review the business structure weekly.

Your dealership is in this for the long haul! By being diligent about tracking and caring for your dealership’s health, you can navigate economic uncertainties with confidence. Capitalizing on your growth opportunities while carefully managing your cash and mitigating your risks will help you ease financial tension.

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How Your Dealership Can Stop Competing on Price

Times are tough. It’s tempting to compete on price so your team can move as many boats as possible, but it’s not the best strategy. You need a better message than “buy from our dealership because we’re cheaper than the other guys.”

Even if you are cheaper than the other guys!

Because sooner or later, someone is going to come along and do it cheaper than you can.

And even if they don’t … it’s tough to build a sustainable business based on low margins. You need a healthy profit margin to be able to build your team, invest in marketing and still leave enough left over to support your lifestyle. 

Don’t be cheaper than the other guys. You need to build a brand and a marketing system that gives your dealership the ability to preserve your margins and enjoy a sustainable, profitable business. 

Here are a few different ways to go about this:

Build Your Brand & Tell Your Story
If you’re seen as THE go-to expert in your area, customers will pay more to do business with you. Not only that, but they’ll begin to seek you out and they’ll be willing to jump through some hoops in order to work with you instead of the competition. Build your brand and tell your story. It will make you uniquely valuable in your market. 

Differentiate Your Customer Experience
You want to avoid creating an “apples-to-apples” comparison with your competition. What can you do to make your customer experience meaningfully different from everyone else in your market?

Speed or Convenience
If you can get it done faster or more conveniently than your competition … that’s an advantage that people will pay extra to enjoy. What can you do to make it convenient for your customers to do business with you? Extended hours? VIP Delivery options? Concierge-level service?

Top Quality Staff
A top-quality team is very attractive for buyers – especially the type of buyers who aren’t going to be price-sensitive. Invest in your team. Hire the best people you can find, even if they may be more expensive in the short term. (In the long term, they will be much more profitable for you, even if they cost a bit more.) 

Premium Experience
What can you do to create a truly premium experience for your customers? Provide educational and operational training events? Hold memorable appreciation events? Elevate your showroom’s fun factor? Provide exceptional client and customer service? 

Ideally, you can combine two or three of these characteristics to make a strong case for why you are WORTH IT. 

And please hear me on this point – I’ve never worked with a business that can’t make at least one of these arguments.

It’s not easy, but stop competing on price.

How your dealership can Stop Competing on Price
Danny Decker

About the Author: Danny Decker is an author, speaker, serial entrepreneur and marketing consultant. Danny is a frequent speaker, Dealer Week educator, a contributor to Forbes.com and hosts the Marketing Simplified Podcast. His book, “Marketing Simplified,” is currently available on Amazon.com and other retailers. Learn more, download a free marketing resource and connect with Danny at www.DannyDeckerMarketing.com.

More Danny Decker marketing tips are available at MRAATraining.com.

Learn more from Danny about having a marketing mindset.

MRAA Adds Three Partner Members in Boatmate Trailers, Rightboat, teamMarine

MINNEAPOLIS, July 31, 2024 — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) announces the addition of Boatmate Trailers LLC, Rightboat LDT, and teamMarine as its newest Partner Members.

MRAA Welcomes New Partner Members

Marine manufacturers, suppliers and service providers, through Partner Membership, commit to aligning their brands with the programs and opportunities that MRAA offers in its efforts to fuel the success of the marine industry. Support from Partners allows the Association to expand its offerings and create a positive, long-term impact on MRAA members’ business.

  • Boatmate Trailers LLC (Maryville, Tenn.) manufactures custom boat trailers designed for various types of watercrafts, focusing on quality and durability to enhance the towing and launching experience.
  • Rightboat LDT (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) is an online marketplace where users can buy and sell a wide variety of new and used boats, including power boats, sailing boats, catamarans and yachts.
  • teamMarine (Naples, Fla.) provides CRM solutions specifically designed for the boating industry to enhance sales, service and customer management for boat dealerships.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Boatmate Trailers, Rightboat, and TeamMarine as Partner Members of the MRAA,” says Allison Gruhn, VP of Business Development. “Their dedication to innovation and quality in their respective areas significantly contributes to our mission of supporting marine retailers.”

Dealer members are encouraged to explore the list of companies that actively support the MRAA across four partnership levels. View the complete list.

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.

2023 Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index Awards Honor MRAA Certified Dealerships

MINNEAPOLIS, July 31 – The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) announces that 126 unique Certified Dealerships, have been honored by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) as recipients of the 2023 Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Awards.  

2023 Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index Awards Honors MRAA Certified Dealerships

“Congratulations to this year’s CSI Award winners,” says Stevie Cook, MRAA Certification Specialist. “Measuring customer satisfaction is critical for a dealer’s success, as it rewards their team for dedicated work and helps them approach every customer with purpose and genuine care.”

The 2023 CSI Awards honor 1,000 boat dealers for customer satisfaction excellence in sales and 759 boat dealers for excellence in continued service. It was the eighth straight year NMMA has used dealer satisfaction data collected through the Marine Industry CSI program to recognize boat dealers that actively  quantify customer satisfaction and choose continuous improvement to provide excellence customer care.

“Delivering an outstanding ownership experience and a creating a lifelong boater not only requires an excellent product, but an extraordinary journey from sales through continued service at the dealership,” said Robert Newsome, NMMA Chief Administrative Officer and Senior Vice President of Operations in a release. “Congratulations to the 2023 CSI Award boat dealer recipients for helping to ensure today’s boaters are on the water for decades to come.”

The 2023 CSI Award dealer recipients achieved an independently measured standard of excellence of 90% or higher in customer satisfaction over the past program year. Data is collected as part of a survey of customers who purchased a new boat between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. For this reporting period, the program surveyed more than 175,000 customers.

2023 Marine industry CSI Awards Stevie Cook headshot
Stevie Cook

“Using a customizable blueprint for success, Certified Dealers provide an outstanding experience for their customers and maintain a visionary mindset focused on continuous improvement,” adds Cook. “From customer relations management to facility and website upkeep to performance planning and employee satisfaction, our Certified Dealers not only adhere to the Marine Industry Consumer Commitment but also devote their time to installing processes and best practices to create customer loyalty and a world-class  retail experience.”

The complete list of 2023 CSI Awards recipients honored for their improved customer satisfaction levels is located at www.boatsatisfaction.com.

For more information about the Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index program, contact Jennifer Palmer at Rollick, Inc. at csisupport@rollick.io or 888-204-8209.

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.

National Marine Trades Council (NMTC) Concludes Successful Annual Conference in Stillwater, Minnesota

Stillwater, Minnesota – July 30, 2024 – The National Marine Trades Council (NMTC), hosted by the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA), wrapped up its annual conference Thursday, held at the charming Hotel Crosby in Stillwater, Minnesota. The meeting, which took place from July 22 to July 25, brings together industry leaders, association representatives, and key stakeholders for a series of insightful discussions, presentations, and networking opportunities.

NMTC Concludes Successful Annual Conference in Stillwater, Minnesota

The conference featured sessions on workforce development, industry advocacy efforts, boat show strategies and best practices, and other association-focused roundtable discussions. The two-plus day event also included workforce-focused presentations from Mercury and Yamaha, industry marketing updates from Discover Boating and artificial intelligence insights from the MRAA.

“The NMTC’s most significant value is the opportunity it offers all of our industry’s state and national marine trades associations to come together and learn from one another,” said Randall Lyons, 2024 Conference Chair and the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association. “As association leaders, we play a unique role in supporting and fostering the growth of our industry and the thousands of businesses within it. This event allows us to share insights and ideas from across the industry, helping us all deliver better results for our industry.”

Attendees enjoyed exploring Stillwater, a unique river town with a rich boating history, on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The event itself also featured several networking opportunities, such as the dinner cruise on the St. Croix River, fostering further camaraderie among participants and sponsors.

The NMTC is already gearing up for the 2025 conference, with exciting plans and initiatives on the horizon. We are pleased to announce that Lori Wheeler, Vice President of Marine Industries Association of South Florida, will serve as the chair for next year’s conference.

NMTC Concludes Successful Annual Conference in Stillwater, Minnesota

“As the chair of next year’s NMTC conference, I am excited to continue building on the momentum we’ve created. We look forward to another year of collaboration, innovation, and growth within the marine trades community,” said Lori Wheeler. “All of us who participated this year extends our heartfelt gratitude to Randall Lyons for his leadership and dedication as the chair of this year’s conference. His leadership and efforts were instrumental in making this event a resounding success.”

A special thank you to this year’s sponsors: Discover Boating, Informa Markets, Mercury, Yamaha, Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, American Boat & Yacht Council, Ad Strategies, Marine Industries Association of South Florida, Marine Trades Association of New Jersey, Massachusetts Marine Trades Association, Boating Ontario, BoatU.S., Michigan Boating Industries Association, and Ohio Marine Trades Association.

For more information, please contact:
Randall Lyons – randall@boatma.com or Lori Wheeler – lori@miasf.org
National Marine Trades Council (NMTC) 

About NMTC
The National Marine Trades Council (NMTC) is an informal group of marine trade associations, dedicated to promoting and supporting the marine trades industry through advocacy, education, and collaboration. Our annual conference brings together industry leaders to share knowledge, address challenges, and shape the future of marine trades.

21 Dealership Insights into What’s Working Today

• Your fellow dealers share effective strategies for conserving cash, managing inventory, connecting with customers and more

As a dealership owner or manager, it would be easy to view the glass of marine retailing today as half empty, particularly when compared to the spike in demand during the pandemic.

Case in point, one dealer recently wrote: “Nothing is really working. We can’t give away some new boats at cost,” as part of their response to the June MRAA/Baird/Trade Only Marine Retailer Pulse Report, a member-only resource available now for download.

21 Dealership Insights

With 49 percent of respondents reporting retail declines in June, that dealer is certainly not alone in facing some serious challenges. However, we know from experience that while it takes real focus and energy to adopt a proactive mindset and view the glass as half full, it can make a real difference in dealership performance.

One dealer who displayed this kind of positive, solutions-based approach wrote: “Year to date, our sales are down. We’re not deep in the red. However, our focus is on implementing optimal strategies to enhance our daily operations, ensuring we remain agile during this challenging phase in our industry.”

In fact, many respondents to the survey shared what they are doing to take advantage of opportunities and use creative strategies in areas like managing their spending, moving inventory and growing their customer relationships. Here are 21 examples.

  1. Seek new and innovative products to separate you from the masses and get customers through the doors and on the water to see and demo the vessels.
  2. Know your selling season history and match your boat ordering to limit surpluses during your slow season and match your peak selling times.
  3. Evaluate and control your dollar spending to retain enough earnings to remain comfortable.
  4. Service adjustments: Have enough techs to process customer boats rapidly.
  5. Right-size your sales team. Some dealers have replaced “order takers” in sales with new sales staff who enjoy selling and have a fresh approach and attitude.
  6. Find your social media star and “go-to” channel. Let your sales team post your dealership content on their personal feeds, like TikTok or Instagram. Video is still king and can help create inventory awareness, showcase sales and bring foot traffic to your business.
  7. Sell boat repowers to help move the needle and keep the customer engaged. Some of these even include manufacturer incentives. One dealer held a promotion, without OEM support, offering a 25-percent discount off MSRP for trading in old two-stroke engines of 40 HP or higher.
  8. Strengthen your customer follow-up!
  9. Take full advantage of OEM promotions.
  10. Host events that engage and create opportunities for customers to use their boats.
  11. Work with your brands to avoid cookie-cutter product overload and help dial-in inventory that works for your dealership and region. You need to order what sells and what your customers want!
  12. Explore every possible floorplan lender and plan closely to determine if you need to change or shift certain inventory to a different lender, even if for the short-term.
  13. Consider offering major discounts to cash-buying customers with desirable pre-owned boats, enticing them to upgrade. Some dealers have focused more on pre-owned vessels and less on new boats. This strategy has paid off and lets them fill small holes in their lineup with new units of a particular size (less than 20-foot runabouts) rather than blanket coverage of every size and shape.
  14. Take customers on test drives. Be easy to work with — kindness makes a difference.
  15. Establish a rental system to engage first-time boaters and non-owners, offering your support while building a stronger relationship and creating a pathway for ownership.
  16. Consider creating on-water guided tours to create a steady stream of new visitors, many new to boating. You open the door to future tours, further engagement and possibly ownership.
  17. Educate your service customers about service plans and costs upfront. Share with them the benefits of buying new(er) vessels and engines vs. older boats with aged powerplants.
  18. Sell thyself. Stick to your mission, vision and core values. Go above and beyond at every touchpoint while showcasing extreme levels of transparency.  
  19. Consider staying open during holiday weekends to provide service help for customers.
  20. Explore opportunities for expansion through dealership acquisition. Some dealers can be buyers and gain market share, while others are ready to sell.
  21. Prep every boat you touch, new or used, as though it is going out the door soon! You will help your sales team in the delivery process and improve the customer experience.

While there is a wide range of strategies that are working for your peers, they share one thing in common: They all involve focusing on what you can control to create a business that outperforms the competition.

Want more proven solutions and best practices? Join us for an expanded education lineup at Dealer Week 2024. Learn more at DealerWeek.com.

MRAA, ASA Partner to Launch Education Hub within MRAATraining.com

ORLANDO, July 23 – The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) and the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) announced a partnership to create an Education Hub for ASA member organizations. Unveiled at ASA’s International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST) show in Orlando, Fla., the new custom training hub will be housed within MRAA’s Learning Management System, MRAATraining.com.

MRAA, ASA Partner to Launch Education Hub within MRAATraining.com

“Like recreational boat dealers, these peers in our industry need to showcase the angling lifestyle every single day with every consumer touchpoint,” said Liz Keener, MRAA Director of Dealer Development. “Partnering with the ASA to produce an educational library will help fishing and outdoor retailers enhance their skills to improve sales and ownership experiences with their customers, elevating both the recreational boating and fishing industries.”

The MRAA and the ASA will team up to curate education in the form of courses, resources and programs on topics of interest to sportfishing retailers. ASA Members will gain access to the ASA Education Hub that will include 60-plus sales, marketing and leadership courses, ICAST Lunch & Learn content from 2023 and 2024, advocacy information and more.

The collaboration contains additional deliverables, including: new education in the form of blogs, live webinars, resources and two MRAA staff members to support educational programming at ICAST and the Sportfishing Summit.

“One of the core pillars of ASA’s mission is education,” said Mary Beth Long, ASA Vice President of Communications. “We make it a priority to keep our members abreast of the latest business, government affairs and economic trends as well as access to sportfishing industry experts. Our new partnership with MRAA helps us to provide more robust offerings such as a larger library of sales, marketing and leadership content and on-demand educational opportunities.”

With the synergies between MRAA and ASA’s target audiences, it will be efficient for MRAA to develop, for ASA, a substantial education program using the same approach that has helped MRAA achieve world-class Net Promoter Scores for its educational programs and annual Dealer Week Conference and Expo.

To learn more about the ASA, ICAST and the ASA Education Hub, contact John Stillwagon, ASA Director of Communications, Content & Digital Marketing, (jstillwagon@asafishing.org), or Liz Keener (lizk@mraa.com) at the MRAA.

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.

About the American Sportfishing Association
The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) is the sportfishing industry’s trade association committed to representing the interests of the sportfishing and boating industries as well as the entire sportfishing community. We give the industry and anglers a unified voice when emerging laws and policies could significantly affect sportfishing business or sportfishing itself. ASA invests in long-term ventures to ensure the industry will remain strong and prosperous, as well as safeguard and promote the enduring economic, conservation and social values of sportfishing in America. ASA also gives America’s 55 million anglers a voice in policy decisions that affect their ability to sustainably fish on our nation’s waterways through Keep America Fishing, our national angler advocacy campaign. America’s anglers generate more than $50 billion in retail sales with a $148 billion impact on the nation’s economy creating employment for 945,000 people.

MRAA Reveals Dealer Week 2024 Theme

MINNEAPOLIS, July 23 – The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) has announced the theme of “Outperform” for its annual Dealer Week Conference and Expo, held December 8-11 in Orlando, Fla.

MRAA reveals Dealer Week 2024 Theme

Economic winds have not been as favorable to boating as a whole in 2024 as they were in recent years. Nor are they projected to be in 2025. However, not everyone has been equally affected by macroeconomic trends. Certain dealers and brands have outperformed the market and show strong sales. At Dealer Week 2024, marine retailers will learn best practices and attain tools from industry experts to help them outperform the trends, the competition and even their own expectations.

“When we were developing this year’s Dealer Week, we knew there were real economic headwinds affecting the boating market, but we were also hearing from some top dealers that they and their brands had been able to outperform the trends,” said Mike Davin, VP of Industry Relations at MRAA. “Our goal is to give everyone who comes to Dealer Week the tools to do that, and if you look at the lineup of speakers that was just released you’ll see some of the ways our experts think retailers actually have an opportunity right now to take advantage of the current market. For that reason, this is a year that we believe every boat dealer will want to be at Dealer Week to set themselves up for success in 2025.”

MRAA has added dedicated Marketing pathway in 2024. The new track will highlight ways that top dealerships are outperforming the market. Topics will include practical ways to leverage AI, how to craft a marketing budget that will turbocharged sales and how to utilize community-based marketing to greatly increase your reach.

Returning educational tracks include the newly renamed Sales & F&I pathway, which will focus on how to close sales and anticipate and overcome objections. The Leadership pathway will offer insights and takeaways for how to get your entire team moving in the same direction, united around a common goal. Finally, the Service & Parts pathway will provide specific examples of how to drive performance both in-season and in the (too-often-overlooked) offseason.

“The Dealer Week educational line-up has been developed specifically to give dealership teams the combination of education and tools they need to outperform the market ahead of us in 2025,” says Liz Walz, Vice President of Education. “Those marine professionals who join us in Orlando are dedicated to not just navigating the pitfalls ahead, but also finding new opportunities. By applying what they learn at the event, they’ll be ready to stand out from the rest, grow market share and set their dealership up to emerge stronger than before.”

Dealers have no control over the larger economy or market downturns, so Dealer Week will help attendees focus on what they can control, identify opportunities for growth and understand how successful businesses have surpassed expectations despite the prevailing headwinds.

Dealer Week 2024 early bird registration is available through the end of September. Industry companies looking to boost their competitive edge can still reserve exhibitor booth space for boating’s only event focused on dealer growth.

About Dealer Week
For more than 50 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 exists 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 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.

Sea Tow Foundation Invites Submissions for 2024 National Boating Safety Awards

Southold, NY (July 22, 2024) – The Sea Tow Foundation, in partnership with its esteemed
Boating Safety Advisory Council, is excited to announce that submissions for the 2024
National Boating Safety Awards are now open. These awards will be presented at the
International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition & Conference (IBEX) on October 2, 2024 at 4 pm in
the Tech Talk Theater on the Exhibit Floor.

Sea Tow Foundation Invites Submissions for 2024 National Boating Safety Awards

“The Sea Tow Foundation is committed to elevating boating safety to new heights,” said Gail R. Kulp, Executive Director of the Sea Tow Foundation. “The National Boating Safety
Awards are pivotal to our mission, spotlighting the groundbreaking innovations and unwavering commitments of industry leaders. These awards recognize that safe boating practices are not merely recommendations – they are essential to our collective well-being on the water.”
The 2024 awards will spotlight outstanding safety initiatives across various sectors of the
boating industry. Any business that is or represents a for-profit entity within the boating
industry is welcome to apply in one of the following award categories:
● Marine Manufacturer (Boat or Engine)
● Gear/Equipment/Accessories Manufacturer
● Media Outlet
● Retailer/Distributor with up to 3 Locations
● Retailer/Distributor with 4 or more Locations
● Social Media Influencer
● Marine Trade Association
● Community Boating/Boating Education Program (for profit)
● PR/Marketing/Advertising Consultant or Agency
● Other type of group not listed above – this could apply to charter companies, boat
clubs, insurance companies or any other group that does not fit in another category

Applicants are encouraged to submit their entries for their boating safety efforts conducted
between January 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024. Applicants are welcome to apply for efforts that
have previously earned them an Award, but the applicant will be required to document
enhancements or new additions to the effort and ensure it took place during the given
dates.
There is no cost to enter the awards, and the application process is designed to be quick
and easy, taking less than 10 minutes. Applicants are welcome to enter multiple efforts
under separate entries.
For more information about the National Boating Safety Awards, and to apply, please visit
www.boatingsafety.com/awards. The deadline for submissions is Saturday, September 7, 2024.

About Sea Tow Foundation
The Sea Tow Foundation – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization – was started in 2007 by Captain Joe Frohnhoefer, founder of Sea Tow Services International, after he witnessed too many preventable accidents and fatalities on the water. Through its flagship programs which include the Life Jacket Loaner Program, Sober Skipper Campaign, Flare Education, and the National Boating Safety Awards, the Sea Tow Foundation strives towards its vision of a world where boaters are safe and responsible. To learn more, visit boatingsafety.com.