Dealer Case Study: Be the Resource for New Boaters

Attracting new buyers is essential in the effort to get more people on the water and keep them there. Despite all the economic impacts and health concerns, 2020 seems to be banner year for first-time boat buyers and the new-to-the-marine industry types. We all welcome the growth. And by growth, we’re talking about boat sales, website traffic and the increased demand for information. Now is the time to dedicate time, energy and resources to capitalizing on this surge of new customers. Dealer Case Study: MarineMax

MRAA spoke with Abbey Heimensen, Director of Marketing, and Lisa Harrison, PR and Content Manager, at MarineMax about their New to Boating webpage and unprecedented growth, which has seen a 461 percent year-to-year increase in pageviews in the past 90 days. Harrison says MarineMax, which has 59 locations and 29 different brands, has seen its reach flourish and grow within its own database. In fact, new site users are up 40 percent due to the increased consumer interest and the in-house New to Boating initiative.

“Statistics from the MRAA and NMAA tell us that approximately 3 percent of the [US] population boats, which is a very small percentage,” explained Heimensen. “We spend a lot of time supporting MRAA, Discovery Boating and things like that to help move that gauge. We know that we personally may not help move that gauge to four percent or five percentage, but we know we want to get a larger piece of the pie of the people who boat.”

They then took a different vantage point to determine how MarineMax could help get more people in, says Heimensen. “And once they get to our website, we found that one of the things they were searching for was ‘new to boating.’ We had been relying on other sources for that, like I have mentioned, and we felt that we were not doing our customers justice by not having that information on our website.”

She explains that when pandemic hit with full force, MarineMax was kind of catapulted forward and made to move more quickly and get the New to Boating page completed. “We got it out there for not only the customers who come to our website, but also in general for the boating industry. As much traffic as we are able to generate to our website, it really made sense to help the industry as whole have that information there.”

The site itself is pretty straightforward, and Heimensen says they didn’t reinvent the themes of fishing, cruising, tow sports, etc. “We knew those were things we didn’t have to reinvent. We did the design work from the ground up, and we featured products that MarineMax carries,” explained Heimensen. “If it was going to be on our website, we felt it was very important to reflect the brands we carry because we picked those brands very specifically in our portfolio to make our customers’ choices that much easier that they have the quality of brands from which to choose.”

Essentially, the New To Boating page features all the basic information a new boater and new buyer would need to know about the marine industry, MarineMax and its brands, including information on boat types, boating resources, education (classes and seminars) and online community initiatives. And for those consumers who seek to know even more, MarineMax features other consumer-related marketing and content in an effort to answer questions, enrich the purchasing process and enhance the overall boating experience.

The New To Boating page is an educational stop before making a purchase. “This is helping you make a decision before you make a large investment,” stated Heimensen. “It doesn’t matter if it’s an aluminum bass boat or a $6 million dollar yacht. It’s an investment of your time, your family, it’s a very serious investment … one that is different than purchasing a car. Purchasing a boat is purchasing a lifestyle for your family. You’re making a commitment that we’re going to be on the water, we’re going to do this on the weekends — everybody’s in!”

Our conversation has generated plenty of topics and tips to also aid you in enhancing your own marketing and content resources to capture more new boaters.

1. Grow your family: To target new boaters, you can use current resources provided by the MRAA, Discover Boating, NMAA and related outlets to enhance your site and social content. But the idea is to share your own industry knowledge with these new customers. One way to build a larger family is to sell them boats, but another way is to offer them informative and related education, ownership tips and buying advice according to your market, areas of expertise and brands. This also can make you their trusted source both on and off the water.

2. Develop a content team: MarineMax has its own in-house team comprised of content suppliers, proofreaders, graphic designers and also a new CMS (content management system) engineer. While most dealerships can’t afford to build a team that large, adding a content producer to your marketing team could be beneficial. That person could be in charge of creating content for your website, social media, videos, e-blasts, ads and more. At MarineMax, the CMS engineer’s role is key in the development of the site-specific page because they build platform from the ground up, using current site stats and things like heat maps to determine consumer flow and viewing patterns. This role, whether in house or provided by an agency, creates the behind-the-scenes work and steps necessary to keep many visitors headed down the purchasing funnel. The other team members serve as content writers, editors and experts to enhance the brand’s voice. Finally, the design team blends the behind-the-scenes with the content to ensure the message is on point, attractive and on brand. In addition, this original content comes from you and is in your voice, which further connects you with the customer.

3. Budget for time and resources: You’ll save some cost if you have the ability to do everything with your internal team, from management to sales to parts and PR. If not, you must be prepared to reserve money for site development, freelance copy, proofreaders and site designers. MarineMax says a lot of responsibility falls upon the team’s shoulders because people can use the content and it’s out in front of the entire industry. Your team’s leaders and most experienced boaters make fabulous information resources. The goal is to improve your customer’s experience and to act like a one-stop shop to them. One location with all the answers.

4. Educational by design: Educating the customers with content is essential, but it also comes in handy for your sales consultants during interactions with consumers. They can find the right answers and the correct boat for customers the first time; a must do to create repeat buyers.

5. CRM: Investing in data collection technology (like HubSpot) and lead generation is vital, too, says Heimensen. Using the insights from the data helps a better roadmap and other ways to interact with customers. This includes CRM efforts like, newsletters, live boat demos, giveaways and virtual events for those new to boating. Try meet-and-greets on Zoom, Facebook Live forums and weekly podcasts to connect with certain consumers. The “Boating Tips Live” effort from MarineMax involves a designated captain to discuss different topics with consumers.

6. Have some class: This is more about offering your customers or potential customers classes to learn more about boat ownership prior to buying or boat ownership after the purchase. It’s really about re-investing in your customers. MarineMax says it offers specialty trips, like its Getaways!® boating events — complete with integrated safety and social-distancing protocols — for its customers as a way to entice more interaction and to offer them a better boating experience.

7. Lifelong boater, first-time buyer: Always remember that just because someone has been in boating all their life, doesn’t mean they have ever purchased their own boat or know everything about boat ownership. You can help educate them and further gain their trust.


MarineMax’s New To Boating page is a clear winner for its ability to attract new customers who want to learn more about boats, the lifestyle and ownership. But it’s clear that MarineMax has also made a legitimate all-in effort to better connect with customers — new and old, alike — by becoming a resource people can depend on, pre-sale and post-sale. It’s a winning formula that, with these seven shared best practices, can also help you go next level as well.

Great American Outdoors Act signed into law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 4, 2020 – President Trump today signed the strongly biparisan Great American Outdoors Act, the most significant conservation package in a generation, into law. This comes after the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate overwhelmingly passed the package to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund and address the significant national park maintenance backlog.

“As boating becomes a more popular pastime, the Great American Outdoors Act is perfectly timed to invest in our public lands and waters, and encourage outdoor recreation for families and enthusiasts alike,” said MRAA President Matt Gruhn. “This package shows what can happen when our outdoor recreation community collaborates together on important issues like this. We thank Congress for their bipartisan passage of the Great American Outdoors Act that will provide ways to stay safe and healthy – both mentally and physically – by escaping the anxiety and uncertainty in our current world.”

“The Great American Outdoors Act is the most significant conservation and public lands package in a generation that will finally fully fund important maintenance and conservation projects to invest in our outdoor communities,” said MRAA government relations manager Adam Fortier-Brown. “This investment will ensure our public lands endure as a gift from our generation to those who come long after we are gone. We applaud Congress for passing the Great American Outdoors Act and proving strong bipartisan compromise is possible on important issues, and our outdoor recreation community for their tireless work on this.”

The Great American Outdoors Act is the largest public lands and conservation package in the past 50 years, and the single largest outdoor recreation package ever passed and includes two parts: permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), and the Restore our Parks Act (ROPA).

The Land and Water Conservation Fund uses revenues from offshore oil and gas leases to support conservation efforts. Established in 1964, LWCF has funded recreation opportunities in all 50 states, including National parks and baseball fields, wildlife refuges, and river and lake access points.  Every year LWCF rakes in $900 million in royalties for these conservation programs; unfortunately, Congress has not fully funded the program each year, resulting in a federal backlog of $30 billion in areas important to recreational boating like the Florida Everglades. Additionally, state governments report needing $27 billion to fund local and state park projects.

The Restore our Parks Act specifically directs funds to maintenance projects in national parks, forests and waterways. The National Park Service reports an $11.9 billion backlog in deferred maintenance projects, including cleaning up polluted waterways, repairing bridges and trails, and modernizing important buildings and structures. ROPA would ensure that our nation commits to maintaining the public lands and waters our industry depends on, and preventing a future pileup of projects.

For additional information, please contact MRAA government relations manager Adam Fortier-Brown at adam@mraa.com.

Give Your Service Advisor an Assist for an Improved Customer Experience

Operation: Keep Your Customers Boating has been focused on providing exceptional customer experience to your new boat buyers, so they have a better boating lifestyle, stay in the sport, become loyal customers of your dealership and refer their family and friends to you.

And the service department is an integral piece in that equation. Service is the primary department your customers will interact with between their first boat purchase and any subsequent boat purchases. So the experience your customers have with your service department is critical to them returning to your dealership again and again.

One of the key things a dealership can do to improve the relationship a customer has with the service department is for the customer to have their “person,” their primary contact, the person the customer knows will always have their back, says Rallee Chupich, an MRAA Certification Consultant who spent 34 years working at the dealership level, specializing in service.

Sam Dantzler, of Garage Composites, also backs up that assertion in his 2018 Continuous Certification course, “Take Your Dealership from Good to Great with CRM.”

What customers want is a key contact in service who knows them by name, understands their past and current issues and will be liaison for them in the service department. To make that possible, Rallee recommends you hire one or more service advisor assistants, employees who may not have as much of a service knowledge base as your primary service advisor, but instead can focus on the customer experience and helping the customer close the gap between having an issue with the boat and having that boat fixed and back on their trailer or dock.

Service advisors are skilled individuals, who balance an understanding of the service department, service scheduling, technical knowhow and customer experience. But many could use additional help, with the number of clients and service appointments a dealership has to handle. So while a service advisor can still write up repair orders, work with VIP customers and coordinate with the service manager, the service advisor’s assistant can handle the rest.

A service advisor’s assistant, Rallee says, could handle some of the following tasks:

• Answering the service department phone
• Being the go-to person for most customers
• Calling customers the day before their appointment to confirm they’re coming in (saving a headache for the rest of the department, if the customer isn’t coming in)
• Calling customers to schedule boat pickup
• Getting pre-authorization or authorization of work to be completed
• Assisting in sales of service products
• Entering customer information into the CRM (customer relationship management system)


Having a service advisor’s assistant will help the dealership by preventing burnout among the talented advisor staff, offering a better customer experience, and possibly giving the dealership someone to train up to the next service advisor position.

When customers have that go-to contact at your dealership that they can trust will take care of them, it builds up their trust with your entire dealership, getting them closer to becoming a customer for life.



Help Your Customers by Helping Your Techs

While the sales team has been cranking out boats all spring and summer, we all know your service team is just as important to your business.

As the old saying goes, “Sales sells the first boat; service sells the rest.” (And dealers in 2020 Continuous Certification have a great course coming out in October with Valerie Ziebron that will highlight that.)

But hiring in service, let alone your other departments, has been difficult for quite a while. It’s no easy task to find skilled technicians or talented service advisors.

However, if you can fill those positions, you can also help those gifted folks by including more support staff that will keep both your technicians and your service advisors on track.

In today’s blog, we’re going to tackle getting help for your service techs. Tomorrow, we’ll cover how assisting your service advisors will improve your customer experience as well.

When you look at your service department, technicians are hard-to-find, well-paid employees, so they should be doing what they were hired to do — working on boats — as much as possible. As Jordon Schoolmeester of Garage Composites says in his MRAATraining.com course, you should “Keep Your Surgeons in Surgery.”

Technicians should have assistance from support positions, such as porters, riggers, a service and parts associate, a service assistant, or some sort of similar position or positions, so they can keep working in the shop. Job descriptions for these positions are available for MRAA members here.

While Jordon compares technicians to surgeons, MRAA Lead Certification Consultant Bob McCann likes to use the visual of a bar to demonstrate how these positions can help speed up efficiency in your service department.

Let’s say you go to Bar A. It’s busy, four people deep up at the bar rail (likely not now due to COVID-19, but you get our drift). There are three bartenders working, but they’re still struggling to pump out drinks. Supplies are running low, so one has to run and get ice, another has to head into the kitchen to get clean glasses, the third is cutting up some limes, and no one is serving a drink. The customers are getting frustrated, and not many sales are being made.


Bar B is just as busy, four people deep at the bar, but those customers are actually moving, getting drinks and getting back to their friends. Bar B has only two bartenders, BUT they also have a barback. The barback is taking care of refilling the ice, bringing in clean glasses and cutting up the limes. The barback makes sure that the skilled bartenders have everything they need to keep pumping out drinks, which means cranking out sales.


So which bar does your service department look like? Are your technicians turning wrenches for a large majority of their shifts? Or are they running to get their own parts, moving boats in and out of their bays, looking for keys, and reassembling every part of the boat after mechanical repair?


Those types of jobs can be trained to be completed by more entry-level employees, rather than a skilled technician. In turn, that keeps your technician in the shop, the dealership turning boats in and out of service more efficiently, and your customers happy because of the faster turnaround.


This step of prioritizing your technician’s work by hiring support help, is likely to make a significant impact on your service efficiency, your bottom line and your customer experience.












9 Ways to Keep in Touch with Your Customers Year-round

With the way lakes, oceans, rivers, bays and other waterways are busy right now, it’s hard to imagine a time when the boats will be put away. But for many of us, there is a boating season, and then there’s winter.

 

And when winter comes, as a a consumer, it becomes frustrating to make those boat payments, knowing your boat is sitting, unused in your garage, alongside the house, or in storage. This is especially true for first-time boat buyers, and those who used their vacation money in 2020 to buy a boat rather than travel.

 

Reaching out to your customers in these moments of doubt are key touchpoints to assure that we don’t lose our customers.

 

So, as the season winds down (whenever that might come in 2020), it’s time to start thinking about your marketing, sales and outreach plans for the fall, winter and early spring. What can you be doing in the off-season, if you have one, to reach out to your customers and get them excited about the next boating season?

 

Here are nine ideas of how to contact your customers in the coming months:

 

1.     Personal outreach to your customers: Call, text, email, or video chat with your customers. Aim for a personal outreach at least once in the off-season to check-in with each of your customers, understand how you can set them up for success for next year’s boating season, and get them more excited about the boating lifestyle.

2.     Run a customer photo contest: Ask your customers to dig out their summer photos for a contest. Give away some sort of prize or prizes. This helps customers go back to their boating photos, reminisce over their awesome summer and remember how great it is to own a boat. Plus, other customers and prospective customers will see the excitement those families experienced over the summer. Certified Dealer Norfolk Marine hosted a photo contest for their customers this past spring that’s worth checking out.

3.     Share boating lifestyle videos: When the chill has set in, people love thinking about the warmth. So share boating lifestyle videos with your customers via social media, email and/or text. Videos can be found for free through Discover Boating. Your manufacturers also likely have some available, as do any pro athletes associated with your brands. And your customers may have some to share as well. As Lead Certification Consultant Bob McCann reminded us recently, Video is King, so use it!

4.     Host off-season events: While COVID-19 may prevent your dealership from hosting in-person, indoor events this off-season, consider hosting a few virtual events. Maybe it’s a class on winterizing, or oil changes. Or maybe it’s information about safety or a boat show preview. Get creative, host the event live, and record the event, giving you optimal use of one event.

5.     Show your customers what off-season looks like at your dealership: Customers might think you just close up shop the second they put their boat in storage, so show them what kind of activity goes on within your store after the boats are out of the water. Showcase what service is up to. Remind them that the parts and accessories department is open. Take a spin through storage, asking your customers if they can spot their boat.

6.     Tell your customers how you’re improving: Many dealers spend the off-season getting their operations prepped for the next season. Show your customers the work your team is putting in to improve their experience with your dealership. If you’re going to Dealer Week to learn about the customer experience, tell them. If you get Certified or are working on your Continuous Certification education, let them know you’re making those improvements for their benefit. If you’re attending a 20 Group or participating in any other type of education, share that. Make sure you take photos and video to capture your customer’s attention.

7.     Host an ice-out contest: Many of you on icy bodies of water may be already doing this, but if you’re not yet, consider adding an ice-out contest. Have your customers vote for when they think the ice will break for boating season and offer a prize for the winner. This will build up the excitement right before the season begins.

8.     Create a countdown: Pick a boating date to get excited about, whether it’s your area’s fishing opener, the first holiday of the season (Memorial Day or Victoria Day), or a date that customers are typically pulling their boat out of storage and create a countdown. Remind your customers how many days are left on a weekly basis.

9.     Host a sale: Just because people are no longer boating doesn’t mean they aren’t still thinking about boating parts and accessories, especially around the holidays and shortly before the season starts. Put a product or a group of products on sale, and tell your customers to stop by, so you can continue to build your relationship with them, and they can get more used to coming into the showroom.

 

You probably have a hundred or more other ideas of how to reach out to customers when they can’t be out on their boat, and you’re probably already doing a lot of outreach. (Please share these ideas in the comments, if you have some.) The important thing to remember is to keep those dreams of the boating lifestyle alive, even when the boat is locked up for the year.

 

We don’t want customers to fall into new hobbies or habits in the off-season that will take them away from boating, instead we want customers to get to a point where they can’t imagine not owning a boat. And we can help get them in that mindset.

Choose the Platinum Rule Over the Golden Rule

We’ve all heard the Golden Rule and probably had it engrained into us at a young age. The Golden Rule is to treat others like you would want to be treated.

 

While the Golden Rule is a great start, we should be living by the Platinum Rule, which is to treat others as they would like to be treated.

 

Dealers who were enrolled in the 2019 Continuous Certification Curriculum should remember the Platinum Rule from Jim Million’s course “Develop Your Dealership’s Workforce Outside In.” In that course, Jim discussed how we can use the Platinum Rule in coaching and mentoring our team.

 

But we can also talk about the Platinum Rule when it comes to your customers, treating each individual as they would like to be treated.

 

How would this look within your dealership? Here are just a few examples:

 

  •  When collecting customer information, ask the customer how they want to be contacted. Ask them if they prefer to communicate via phone, email, text and/or video. If you have them choose the option or options that work best, they’ll better appreciate the outreach and will be more likely to respond.
  • Going back to the blog on fixing customer’s issues, you want to work with each customer to come up with a solution, if they have a complaint. For example, if a customer’s boat gets stuck in the shop for an extra week, you may think you have to go over the top to make them happy, but maybe you just need to connect them with a rental boat for the weekend to keep their loyalty. You won’t know unless you ask.
  • When a customer has a family, especially when that family is involved in the purchase and delivery, during follow-up and subsequent visits, the customer will likely want you to ask about their whole family and how the family is enjoying the boating lifestyle, not just themselves.

 

There are numerous ways to treat people like they would like to be treated, but you have to ask and take notes. Of course, if you don’t know how people want to be treated, you can start with the Golden Rule and treat them as you’d like to be treated. But as you get to know the customer and build a relationship with them, take notes of their needs and wants. Record those in your customer relationship management (CRM) system and reference those notes every time you call or text your customer or see them in person.

 

Again, the goal is to serve them at the level at which they’ll want to return to your dealership and shop nowhere else for their boats and boating accessories.

Center for Sportfishing Policy Reevaluates Federal Progress on Modern Fish Act Enforcement

On July 1, 2020, The Center for Sportfishing Policy (CSP), the nation’s leading advocate for saltwater recreational anglers whom the MRAA works closely with, updated its Modern Fish Act Progress Report, which grades how the federal government is implementing the law in terms of timeliness, stakeholder input and substance.

On December 31, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018 (Modern Fish Act). This law recognizes that recreational and commercial fishing are fundamentally different endeavors and should be managed accordingly and adds more appropriate management tools for policymakers to use in managing federal recreational fisheries.

“While there has been some forward progress in implementing the Modern Fish Act, there is still a long way to go,” said Jeff Angers, president of the Center for Sportfishing Policy. “We knew this ship wouldn’t turn on a dime, and we will continue working with NOAA Fisheries, the regional management councils and the states to enforce the law the way Congress intended it.”

There are many milestones in the Modern Fish Act set to unfold on a certain timeline and that require participation by various governmental agencies, principally NOAA Fisheries. Visit CSP’s Modern Fish Act Progress Report page to learn the status of this important legislation.

For additional information, please contact MRAA government relations manager Adam Fortier-Brown at adam@mraa.com.

New Hampshire Commission Releases Wake Boat Study

On June 30, 2020 the New Hampshire Commission to Study Wake Boats, sanctioned by the New Hampshire Legislature this Fall to study the impacts of wake boats in the state, released its final report which confirmed the recreational boating industry’s positions on these vessels. Some of the recommendations outlined in the report are below:

•The recreational boating community is actively educating tow boat users on ways to minimize any impacts on waterways – including shoreline erosion, aquatic invasive species, and safety – and will continue to bolster these efforts.
•The commission supports legislation to improve general safety practices for wakeboarders and wake surfers.
•Wake surfing farther from shore reduces impacts on shorelines and the recreational boating community strongly encourages all users to stay at least 200 feet away from shorelines and docks.
•Every citizen has the right to use the state’s waterways, and the waters of New Hampshire can accommodate all water sports.
•Recreational boating generates $1.2 billion of economic impact annually to New Hampshire and supports nearly 300 businesses and 7,000 jobs in the state.

An executive summary of the report was completed by NMMA and is available here.

For additional information, please contact MRAA government relations manager Adam Fortier-Brown at adam@mraa.com or NMMA vice president for state government relations, David Dickerson at ddickerson@nmma.org.

Congress Advances Key Safety, Infrastructure Priorities

Ahead of August recess, the U.S. Congress made significant progress on a number of the recreational boating industry’s priorities including key boating safety priorities, approving the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund out of committee, and introducing legislation that would allow small businesses to protect themselves from natural disasters.

Coast Guard Authorization Act
On July 21, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Elijah E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2020 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This bill includes notable provisions the recreational boating community has been supportive of including mandatory usage of engine cut-off or “kill” devices for boaters operating boats under 26 feet. This builds on Congress’s work two years ago that required manufacturers to install these devices on vessels under 26 feet, something the industry has long been in compliance with.

Another notable part of the Coast Guard Authorization Act includes granting the U.S. Coast Guard new authority to streamline approval of recreational boating industry construction standards, technologies, and devices.

The House and Senate have not reached an agreement on this yet and are negotiating a new agreement to be introduced in the Senate.

Sport Fish Restoration and Recreational Boating Trust Fund
On July 22, 2020, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation passed the Sport Fish Restoration and Recreational Boating Trust Fund, a $650 million funding mechanism used for conservation and fishery restoration efforts, fish stocking programs, and infrastructure improvements for the recreational boating and angling community.

Reauthorization of this Trust Fund is a top priority for the entire recreational boating and angling community. In addition to the regular uses of the Trust Fund, it will also require studies to be conducted on the impacts of non-motorized vessel usage on recreational access, as well as the impacts of abandoned and derelict vessels. These studies are supported by MRAA and will increase the efficacy of the whole fund moving forward. The bill now heads to the full Senate floor for consideration.

Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Protect Small Businesses from Natural Disasters
On July 8, champions of our industry in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Providing Resources for Emergency Preparedness and Resilient Enterprises (PREPARE) Act, landmark bipartisan legislation that would give small businesses the opportunity to access much needed capital to invest in disaster resilient infrastructure — a top priority for the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas. This bill would allow the Small Business Administration to make low-interest, fixed rate loans of up to $500,000 to small businesses to invest in their properties to protect their facilities, real estate and contents from natural disasters.

This will preserve small business job gains in communities that depend on them and prevent against the existential threat of permanent business closure. According to FEMA, roughly 40-60 percent of small businesses never reopen following a disaster.

This program would be the only SBA program focused solely on small business disaster prevention, and would complement rebuilding efforts through the government agency’s disaster loan programs. Research shows that every $1 the government spends on disaster mitigation, such as improving existing infrastructure or elevating homes and businesses, saves taxpayers an average of $6.

A study by the MRAA and AMI found that marine businesses need significant funding to protect from flooding, requiring an average of $260,000 to invest in projects like elevating buildings, bulkheads, constructing flood barriers or levees, dry and wet floodproofing, yard regrading, and sewer back up protections. This is an issue that transcends industries where all small businesses across the country face similar needs to mitigate damages caused by an increase in frequency and severity of natural disasters, costing the U.S. over $800 Billion in the last decade.

Read MRAA’s press release outlining the bill.

For additional information, please contact MRAA government relations manager Adam Fortier-Brown at adam@mraa.com.

Great American Outdoors Act headed to President’s desk

On July 22, 2020, The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Great American Outdoors Act on a bipartisan vote of 310-107. This comes just a month after the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed the package to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund and addressing the significant national park maintenance backlog. The most significant conservation package in a generation will now head to President Trump where it is expected to be signed into law.

“As boating becomes a more popular pastime, the Great American Outdoors Act is perfectly times to invest in our public lands and waters, and encourage outdoor recreation for families and enthusiasts alike,” said MRAA President, Matt Gruhn. “This package shows what can happen when our outdoor recreation community collaborates together on important issues like this. We thank Congress for their bipartisan passage of the Great American Outdoors Act that will provide ways to stay safe and healthy – both mentally and physically – by escaping the anxiety and uncertainty in our current world.”

“The Great American Outdoors Act is the most significant conservation and public lands package in a generation that will finally fully fund important maintenance and conservation projects to invest in our outdoor communities,” said MRAA government relations manager Adam Fortier-Brown. “This investment will ensure our public lands endure as a gift from our generation to those who come long after we are gone. We applaud Congress for passing the Great American Outdoors Act and proving strong bipartisan compromise is possible on important issues, and our outdoor recreation community for their tireless work on this.”

The Great American Outdoors Act is the largest public lands and conservation package in the past 50 years, and the single largest outdoor recreation package ever passed and includes two parts: permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), and the Restore our Parks Act (ROPA).

The Land and Water Conservation Fund uses revenues from offshore oil and gas leases to support conservation efforts. Established in 1964, LWCF has funded recreation opportunities in all 50 states, ranging from National parks to baseball fields, wildlife refuges, and river and lake access points. Every year LWCF rakes in $900 million in royalties for these conservation programs; unfortunately, Congress has not fully funded the program each year, resulting in a federal backlog of $30 billion in areas important to recreational boating like the Florida Everglades. Additionally, State governments report needing $27 billion to fund local and state park projects.

The Restore our Parks Act specifically directs funds to maintenance projects in national parks, forests, and waterways. The National Park Service reports an $11.9 billion backlog in deferred maintenance projects, including cleaning up polluted waterways, repairing bridges and trails, and modernizing important buildings and structures. ROPA would ensure that our nation commits to maintaining the public lands and waters our industry depends on, and preventing a future pileup of projects.

For additional information, please contact MRAA government relations manager Adam Fortier-Brown at adam@mraa.com.