MMTA Workforce Solutions Amendment Passes in the 2023 MA State Budget

Randall Lyons, MMTA Release — FOXBORO, MASSACHUSETTS — Last week Governor Baker signed the 2023 state budget, which included $150,000 in funding for workforce development and career technical education initiatives within the recreational boating industry. This funding will continue the successful initiatives and progress that the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association (MMTA) has made over the last five plus years to meet the workforce challenges within the industry.


The funds were introduced via Budget Amendments sponsored in the House by Representative William Straus of the 10th Bristol District and in the Senate by Senator Patrick O’Connor of the Plymouth & Norfolk District, joined in leadership by Representative Susan Gifford and Senator Paul Feeney, the four Co-Chairs of the 60-plus member Legislative Boating Caucus.

Co-Sponsors in the Senate included:
Senators DiZoglio, Gobi, Lovely, Montigny, Moran, Moore, Pacheco, Tarr, Timilty and Velis

Co-Sponsors in the House included:
Representatives Barrows, Cabral, Capano, Chan, Cutler, Elugardo, Ferguson, Fernandes, Giannino, Haddad, Haggerty, Hendricks, Jones, Jr., Kane, Kelcourse, Madaro, Meschino, Muratore, Peake, Philips, Robertson, Sabadosa, Tucker, Viera, Whelan & Xiarhos

The MMTA would like to express our appreciation to Representatives Straus and Gifford and Senators O’Connor and Feeney for their leadership on this budgetary funding. We would also like to thank the 10 co-sponsors in the Senate and the 26 co-sponsors in the House for their support for this very important amendment for the recreational boating industry in Massachusetts. As well, we would also like to thank the six members of the 2023 budget Conference Committee: Representative Aaron Michlewitz, Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante, Representative Todd Smola, Senator Michael Rodrigues, Senator Cindy Friedman, and Senator Patrick O’Connor. Last but certainly not least, thank you to Governor Baker for signing the final budget for the state and supporting workforce solutions within our industry.

The recreational boating industry in Massachusetts has an economic impact of approximately $4.4 billion dollars and employs over 20,000 men and women in the state. The industry is currently facing a substantial workforce shortage both in Massachusetts and on a national level. Here in Massachusetts, there are hundreds—if not thousands—of jobs currently available. We have the jobs & careers; we just need the people to fill them. This amendment will go a long way in continuing to help with the MMTA’s efforts on workforce solutions here in Massachusetts.

ABOUT THE MMTA
Established in 1964, the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association (MMTA) is the non-profit statewide, representative body for approximately 1,000 marine trades businesses in the Commonwealth that employ approximately 20,000 men and women. The mission of the Association is to further the interests of the marine trades and the boating public through the promotion of boating, participation in legislation and professional improvement programs. WWW.BOATMA.COM

Boating Market Report: Demand Continues to Move Inventory at a Record Pace

● Strong consumer demand continues to move boat inventory faster than before the pandemic
● Global average boat value is 28.9 percent higher than 2019
● Boats sold in the first half of the year total over $6 billion globally
● Average price of boats in the 26-foot range continues to rise, up 71.5 percent in the US and 140.6 percent internationally

MIAMI, Fla., August 1, 2022 — Boats Group, a global leader in online boating marketplaces, today announced findings from its latest market report, analyzing the first half of 2022 while comparing pre-pandemic trends alongside pandemic-driven growth. The rising value of boats has yet to affect consumer demand, with listed boats moving off the market faster and sales remaining higher than before the pandemic in 2019.


Consumer demand coupled with lower-than-normal inventory levels is driving these historic spikes in boat values as the global average boat price is now $182,900, an increase of 28.9 percent from 2019. This is further reflected in how quickly boats are moving off the market, selling 32 days faster than last year and 83 days faster than in 2019.

“The continuous and strong growth we’ve seen from our marketplace data is a key indicator of the overall health of the boating market,” said Courtney Chalmers, Vice President of Marketing at Boats Group. “As we compare pre-pandemic numbers to the current market conditions, we’re looking for shifts in consumer behavior that will further provide insight about what we can expect in 2023.”

Throughout the past year, budget-friendly options have become increasingly popular for buyers looking to get out on the water. Boats in the 26-foot range saw an average price increase of 71.5 percent in the U.S. and 140.6 percent internationally compared to pre-pandemic values. The overall market driver for unit sales from 2019 to 2022 were boats in the less than 35-foot segment.

“As we head into the second half of 2022, we’re closely tracking the volume of boats listed for sale. Early indicators show inventory making a comeback and becoming more consistent compared to the peaks and valleys we saw in 2020 and 2021,” said Chalmers. “This very positive trend will help boat builders, dealers and brokers to be well-positioned for the strong consumer demand that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.”

For a comprehensive view of the boating market, visit boatsgroup.com/ne ws to download the  2022 Midyear Market Index from Boats Group. 

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About Boats Group
Boats Group owns and operates the world’s leading online boating marketplaces, connecting the largest global audience of boat buyers with top sellers and manufacturers. Boats Group’s portfolio includes a variety of industry-leading brands like Boat Trader, YachtWorld, boats.com, iNautia, Cosas De Barcos, Botentekoop, Annonces du Bateau, Boats and Outboards, Boatshop24, Click&Boat and Trident Funding.

For nearly three decades, Boats Group has helped marine retailers sell more boats faster and convert more shoppers into buyers than any other source. Through a comprehensive suite of digital business solutions, including proprietary web-based contract management tools, and premier digital marketing strategies and services, Boats Group delivers unmatched value to its industry partners and optimizes the virtual path to boat ownership.

Owned by Permira, Boats Group is headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States, with co-headquarters in Fareham, England, and additional offices in Padova, Italy and Barcelona, Spain. For more information about Boats Group, visit www.boatsgroup.com.

MRAA Grows its Partner Members by Three in July

MINNEAPOLIS — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas announced the addition of three Partner Members to its list of supporting organizations that make delivering education, resources and tools to its dealer members possible.

Marine manufacturers, suppliers and service providers that become Partner Members of the MRAA align their brands with the MRAA and the success of the North American dealer body. Because of this support, MRAA has the ability to expand its offerings and make a greater impact on dealer success.

These three new Partner Members, Radian, Unishippers – Creative Control and MDS Brand, help fuel the success of dealers in unique avenues. Radian aims to provide enterprises with the most powerful data in the marine industry. Unishippers commits to providing higher quality shipping and transportation for the marine industry. MDS Brand intends to become a resource for businesses wanting to make transitions into the digital marketplace. All three of these companies provide unique support to the industry, making it a natural progression to join the MRAA as Partner Members showing a greater level of support to dealers across the US and Canada.

·      Unishippers – Creative Control: The Shipping Company That Works For You.

·      Radian: Supply Chain Optimization, Intelligent Logistics & Asset Management Solutions.

·      MDS Brand: Digital Solutions With A Human Touch That Generate Leads.

“As the number of MRAA Partner Members continues to grow, the MRAA becomes better equipped to successfully serve our dealer members” says Allison Gruhn, Vice President of Business Development. “Each of these new Partner Members provide a unique perspective and expertise needed by many of our dealers. We’re grateful to welcome them to the MRAA family.”

Visit https://mraa.com/page/mraapartners to view the entire list of companies who actively support the MRAA across four levels of partnership.

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.

Priority One Dealers Simplify Retail Financing with DealerRock DMS Integration

St. Petersburg, FL (July 27, 2022) – Priority One Financial Services, a full-service finance company offering flexible, business-ready finance and insurance solutions for marine, RV and trailer dealers, recently announced a groundbreaking partnership with DealerRock, a modern, cloud-based dealer management system (DMS). The new system integration instantly connects customers with the financing they need and simplifies information sharing between dealers and Priority One.

Dealers can now send – with the customer’s permission – customer and collateral information directly from DealerRock to Priority One. With a single click, a dealer can initiate a text to a customer containing a pre-filled credit application with information already received by the dealer. The streamlined process reduces data entry errors and condenses the application timeline to a matter of minutes.

“Today’s customer expects efficiency and ease,” said Nicole Armstrong, Vice President of Corporate Initiatives, Priority One, “and the demands on a dealer’s time are higher than ever. Streamlining the way we gather and share information is a win for all of us.”

DealerRock owner, Jason Haines, also owns and operates Current Watersports, a multi-location marine dealership based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Priority One identified DealerRock as a preferred partner because of Haines’ industry expertise.

“Haines understands the nuances and demands of running a dealership, and the DealerRock system reflects that,” said Armstrong.

“We saw an opportunity to make the financing process easier and more efficient,” said Haines. “We are excited to expand our partnership with Priority One and simplify processes for our dealers.”

Operating primarily in the marine industry, DealerRock recently expanded to include DMS capabilities for RV’s.

Dealers already working with DealerRock will see the new features immediately. For a limited time, DealerRock will waive onboarding fees for Priority One dealers interested in signing up with the DMS.

For more information, visit p1fs.com/dealerrock or call your account executive at (800) 419-1341.

About Priority One Financial Services, Inc.
Founded in 1987, Priority One Financial Services, Inc. offers flexible, business-forward finance and insurance solutions for marine, RV, horse trailer and commercial equipment dealers. A division of Forest River, a Berkshire Hathaway company, Priority One’s knowledgeable team brings full-service financing to every customer, helping dealers improve business and move inventory.

Headquartered in Saint Petersburg, Florida, the company also owns and operates Priority One Equipment Finance and Veritas Insurance Group. A 2019 One Tampa Bay and 2017 Business of Pride honoree, Priority One values its diverse community of employees, customers, dealers and the surrounding Tampa Bay neighborhood.

About DealerRock
DealerRock provides an all-in-one, cloud-based dealer management software system that helps dealers simplify their day-to-day operations and operate more efficiently in today’s competitive marine environment. Leading dealerships use DealerRock to run their operations because of its huge focus on usability and responsive design at an affordable price. It allows them to save money, operate more efficiently and manage their business from anywhere in today’s mobile world. For more info visit: www.dealerrock.com.

Change in the Boating Customer

The Future Does Not fit Into the Containers of the Past

To be successful in today’s competitive marketplace, businesses must understand how to market to each generation and what motivates them. There are four major generational shifts happening in society today: Generation Z (born 1997-2012), Millennials (born 1980-2000), Generation X (born 1965-1980) and Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964). These groups have things in common as well as some key differences.

Today’s boat owners are whiter, wealthier and more male than America as a whole
They’re older than the average American, with a median age of 54 and are six years older than the US median age. They are high-income and high net-worth compared to the average American and more likely to be male than the average American and much more likely to be white (92%) than the average American.

Demographic trends show that the Next Generation of boating prospects will most likely be more diverse and less likely to come from boat owning families than previous generations.


This diversification is even more pronounced among younger generations, with the “post millennial” generation predicted to be “the most diverse, best educated generation yet.” The future of boating will not look like the past. So, it’s imperative for the boating industry to appeal to a younger, more diverse group of potential future boaters to show them how boating can include them.

But, to include them, you must first understand them.

  • Understand Next Generation consumers in real-time
  • Identify new opportunities brought about by new needs and wants
  • Scale with technology to extend business reach
  • Enhance capabilities to find and act upon new opportunities in a pre-emptive way — look into the future
  • Invest in human capital to get it done
  • Customers & Consumers create brands — Today more than ever!
  • Yesterday: interruption, one-way, follow the leader
  • Today brands must involve consumers, connect with them, own, share, advocate (remember … the consumer decides)

    Rebooting the business to realign it with the new consumer environment is critical to its long-term health & growth
    NMMA commissioned a research study to find the groups to target who will be open to boating throughout the broader society. We developed a segmentation study of the potential target universe using two factors: participation in sports and outdoor activities and income.

This study defined potential target groups based on their participation in the same outdoor activities that boat owners often pursue. This allowed us to target a much larger base of future boaters with interests that overlap with today’s boat owners.

Three key segments emerged from the research: Traditional Boaters, Growth Segment and Emerging Segment. The Traditional Boaters are who their name suggests — they most closely resemble the current boat owner, while the Growth and Emerging Segments are opportunities to expand the market for recreational boating, representing 91 million people and more than 1.5x the Traditional Boater segment size.

  • Traditional Boaters: This group looks most like today’s boat owners and has the highest penetration of boat ownership and participation in boating activities. They are older and more suburban/ex-urban than other groups.
  • Growth Segment: This group pursues boating-adjacent activities at high rates, including powersports, biking and hiking and is younger. In fact, they are younger than current first-time boat buyers. They are more ethnically and racially diverse and more likely to live in denser areas.
  • Emerging Segment: This group is a large, dynamic and affluent segment of the potential future boat owner population. In their daily lives, while they are not pursuing the outdoor activities predictive of future boating, they are doing those activities on vacation with a potential “pull” via rental activity. They are the most diverse, most affluent segment.

Shared characteristics of the Growth and Emerging Segments include:

  • Likely to attend events like auto shows, food/beverage festivals and music festivals.
  • Consider themselves more environmentally conscious.
  • Are heavy users of social media including Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok.
  • Enjoy foreign and domestic travel.
  • Participate in outdoor recreation activities, including golfing, cycling, running, tennis and yoga.
  • Watch sporting events online.
  • Own autos from brands including BMW, Jeep, Tesla and Subaru.

Lastly, the Next Generation of boaters are not a large monolithic group. Each generation is valuable in the marketplace, and one is not better than the other. Generation Z and Millennials for example are disrupting the way products and services are advertised by rejecting conventional marketing methods. They are more likely to be swayed by what their peers have to say about a product or service, which means that digital and social media sources such as Yelp reviews and online testimonials can make or break marketing campaigns.

Engaging diverse consumers as buyers and employees for instance is simply a good business strategy. Targeting potential boating lifestyle enthusiasts from the three largest ethnic groups in the US (African American, Asian and Hispanic), as well as women and LGBTQI audiences is essential to the growth of the boating industry. What’s more, these segments will only grow in importance in the years to come as their buying power increases. There is enormous potential to market to these consumer groups in almost any sector and industry, and with a focus on reaching and engaging them where they live, work and play digitally and experientially.

About the Author
Kevin Williams is the Vice President, North American Marketing for the National Marine Manufacturers Association. He has more than 25 years of marketing experience, and most recently co-founded Fortitude Interactive Inc., a marketing technology consulting firm focused on brand strategy, content development and syndication, as well as intellectual property in the digital, social and mobile age. He has also served as head of multicultural marketing and diversity and inclusion initiatives for BMW of North America, LLC., where he facilitated multicultural marketing strategies and initiatives designed to reach, engage and motivate diverse consumers for BMW, MINI Cooper and BMW Motorrad brands.

Discover Boating to Detail ‘See You Out Here’ Campaign in Industry Webinar

Discover Boating, powered by NMMA and MRAA, will host an webinar* Thursday, Aug. 4, for all industry stakeholders, to showcase the “See You Out Here” campaign and how it’s working to attract the next generation of boaters while helping retain the influx of new boaters entering the marketplace over the last couple of years.

The 60-minute webinar will outline the Discover Boating strategy and key elements of this year’s campaign across media, PR, digital and more.


Date: Thursday, August 4
Time: 12:00 pm EDT / 9:00 am PST
Reserve your spot today, by registering here.

*This webinar is open to all industry stakeholders. Space is limited and registration is needed to join the webinar live on Aug. 4.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/6XL4z3acbdw?rel=0

2022 Special Report on Fishing Released

RBFF AND THE OUTDOOR FOUNDATION PARTNERED TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT FISHING PARTICIPATION IN THE U.S.

For the 12th consecutive year, RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation partnered to provide a comprehensive look at fishing participation in the U.S. The 2022 Special Report on Fishing — released Monday, July 19 prior to ICAST 2022— explores participation trends alongside insights into motivations, barriers, and preferences of key groups identified as essential for future growth.

As previously revealed, over fifty-two million Americans age 6+ went fishing in 2021, supporting a six-year upward trend.
2022 Special Report on Fishing cover
DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT | DOWNLOAD THE INFOGRAPHIC

Leaky Bucket
While 3.7 million first timers and 8 million reactivated anglers went fishing, 14 million participants lapsed. That -18 percent churn rate resulted in an overall participation decline of 4 percent.


Shrinking Gender Gap
Women composed 37 percent of fishing participation in 2022, the highest level on record. The participation rate among girls ages 6-12 and 13-17 grew 5 percent and 10 percent, respectively. With these increases, the difference in participation rate between boys and girls has shrunk to less than 4 percent.


A Family Affair
Over half of participants tried fishing thanks to an invitation from their friends or family. Seventy-eight percent of anglers associated fishing with spending quality time with family or friends.

Growth Amongst Decline
While overall participation fell slightly from the historic high in 2020, African American participation increased almost 11 percent year over year. In addition, over 300,000 more Hispanics went fishing in 2021 than in 2019.For further information: Bruna Carincotte, bcarincotte@rbff.org, 202-743-9894

Discover Boating’s ‘See You Out Here’ Campaign Spots Gain Additional Exposure

Discover Boating’s See You Out Here campaign continues gaining exposure through its robust marketing mix, including its television public service announcements (PSA) – a first for the campaign in an effort to extend Discover Boating’s reach to bring more potential boaters into the fold. In fact, the PSA, which features a variety of the campaign spots, has achieved strong results within just several weeks of distribution.


Discover Boating
To date, the campaign spots have aired on 35 broadcast stations nationwide including local ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX affiliates in markets such as Dallas, San Francisco and Grand Rapids as well as regional stations such as SNY/SportsNet New York and Bally Sports Network Ohio.

The spots have aired 2,863 times during prominent, non-overnight hours, which translates to more than $425,000 in donated media value.

Industry stakeholders are encouraged to get involved with the campaign and engage their audiences.? Click here to stream, download or embed the ‘See You Out Here’ video content to share in your showroom, on your website, via your social network or in your next email campaign.

The industry’s brand strategy for Discover Boating remains steadfast and three-fold: Invite the next generation; retain the influx of new boaters; and engage legacy boat owners.

Prepare Your Dealership to Satisfy This New FTC Rule

As you and your team are evaluating what you’ll need to do to adapt to a changing market in the second half of 2022, it’s important to keep in mind the new and revised regulations that apply to your marine business.

For example, if you operate dealerships in the U.S., you’ll need a plan in place to satisfy the Federal Trade Commission’s updated Safeguards Rule, which goes into effect this December.

The revised rule safeguards the consumer data your dealership collects and stores. Learn more about the revisions on this dedicated page of FTC website: www.FTCgov/business-guidance.

MRAA Education Champion 700Credit is one of several companies providing services to help dealers prepare for compliance with the amended regulation.

Whether you plan to satisfy the new requirements yourself or partner with a company that offers these services — if this is the first time you’re learning of the changes to this regulation — consider downloading the two-page resource [HERE] 700Credit has created for marine dealers. It provides an overview of what the rule may mean to your dealership.

July 2022: MRAA Adds Three New Partner Members

MINNEAPOLIS — The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas announced today the addition of three new Partner Members to its growing list of supporting organizations, that make it possible for MRAA to deliver education, resources and tools to its dealer members.

By joining MRAA as Partner Members, marine manufacturers, suppliers and service providers show commitment to the success of the North American dealer body, and in turn, MRAA has greater ability to expand its offerings and make a greater impact on dealer success.

MRAA’s three new Partner Members offer an array of products and services that help dealers generate more revenue for their business. From audio accessories to marketing solutions and technology support, these three Partners are the most recent to commit to supporting MRAA’s mission:

·      ECOXGEAR: Take Your Music Wherever You Go                                             

·      Dealer OMG (Online Marketing Group): Custom Solutions For Your Marine Dealership

·      Boat Fix: Revolutionize The Way You Do Business

“With every new Partner Member, the MRAA is better equipped to fulfill its mission of serving dealers,” says Allison Gruhn, Vice President of Business Development. “Each of these new Partners value the strength of our industry’s retail network, and we’re proud to welcome them to the MRAA family.”  

Visit https://mraa.com/page/mraapartners to view the entire list of companies who actively support the MRAA across four levels of partnership.

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.