• A Q&A with Kellen Friedlander, President, Great Lakes Marine
By Chad Tokowicz, MRAA Government Relations Manager
Rapidly shifting global trade policy is resulting in rising costs and supply chain disruptions, ultimately creating uncertainty for boat dealers, especially those serving both recreational customers and public safety agencies. To explore these challenges, we spoke with Kellen Friedlander of Great Lakes Marine in Denver, Colo. Since 1976, his dealership has not only sold and serviced boats for the general public, but also supplied critical patrol vessels to law enforcement, wildlife and emergency services agencies in his home state of Colorado.
In this Q&A, Kellen shares how sudden tariff changes have delayed boat orders, strained relationships with overseas manufacturers and complicated contracts with government agencies. His story reflects the broader impact trade policy has on dealers and the communities they serve.
Our conversation aims to spark dialogue, share real-world insight about tariff policy and cross-border marine trade and help you find clarity in uncertain times.
MRAA: Can you provide an overview of your business as well as your work with law enforcement or natural resource agencies?
Friedlander: Great Lakes Marine is a Colorado-based marine dealer that was founded in 1976 and we both sell and service boats. While we sell and service recreational boats for the general boating public, we have supplied and maintained patrol boats for various agencies in Colorado since 1984. I have sold boats and engines to everyone from biologists to law enforcement, to public safety professionals of every description. This is a very important aspect of our business, as we not only serve recreational boaters, but work closely with the various agencies and professionals who are tasked with keeping those recreational boaters safe while recreating on Colorado waterways.
How important is Canadian and overseas boat manufacturing to your business model, particularly when it comes to sourcing boats for public safety use?
Due to the longstanding relationships we have developed in Colorado, we have had the opportunity to work very closely with multiple agencies to help develop a brand-new patrol boat suited for the ever-changing needs of daily patrol. During this process, I contacted many boat builders in an effort to find one that would be willing to work with us to develop this new boat. After many conversations pertaining to the specifications needed, the company that we ended up working with on the project is a Canadian boat manufacturer. This company offered the best products and a willingness to customize the patrol boat for the needs of the agencies and since then I have also used the same company to satisfy the needs of multiple other agencies in Colorado.
To be concise; this company is crucial to my ability to supply these agencies and at this time there are no American-made counterparts who can satisfy the requirements of the agencies in Colorado.
What types of boats or marine products are you typically importing from Canada or overseas for these agencies? What other work do you do in tandem with these agencies and how has this relationship changed over the years?
We are solely importing aluminum boats but the type of boat has varied dramatically from center console to landing craft. I work closely with many agencies including law enforcement, fire departments, fish and wildlife and many other emergency services providers. At Great Lakes Marine, we not only work to import these boats for Colorado agencies, but service and repair them as well. Working directly with the manufacturers to create custom crafts for Colorado agencies is a new evolution of our relationship within the state and unfortunately may be threatened by current trade policies.
Please compare how past and present U.S. trade policies impacted your ability to import boats from Canada or overseas.
The current policies have been very detrimental as I have contracts in place that were agreed upon before any of the different tariff rates were even proposed and now my pricing has changed dramatically. This rapid shift in pricing is even more complex when dealing with a government agency, as unlike a consumer, who are also negatively impacted by market uncertainty and price spikes; government agencies simply cannot authorize an increase in how much they are spending.
In the case of working with the Colorado state agencies on their custom patrol boats, I had to bid on a competitive contract, a process the state utilizes to ensure they are getting the best priced products. The issue this presented is that I was not able to price in the tariffs when making my offer, as the Trump Administration did not provide enough warning, or ramping up of the tariffs and now that they are in place, my profit margin has been severely undercut on this deal.
Can you share any specific examples where uncertainty around tariffs has delayed or complicated an order for a law enforcement or natural resources client? What was the impact on your business? What was the impact on the natural resource/law enforcement agency?
One of the agencies I work with, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), has had three patrol boats on order since January of 2024. The Canadian company that I ordered the boats from stopped building boats for the U.S. for a period when the tariffs were announced and pushed all those boats out of production. I am still waiting for those boats to be built, which also means that Colorado Parks and Wildlife is still waiting for their new boats. Obviously this is a detriment to their ability to ensure public safety, as CPW needs these new upgraded patrol boats to effectively keep recreational boaters safe on Colorado waterways.
Further adding to the issue is the fact that all of this is happening right before peak season, now is the time for CPW and other agencies to be training and getting familiar with their new vessels and safety equipment before using it to save lives during peak boating season. Simply put, the timing couldn’t be worse.
Have these cross-border marine trade challenges affected your relationships with Canadian or overseas manufacturers or with the government agencies you serve?
Absolutely. Firstly the relationship between my company and the Canadian company have been strained greatly as they are very unhappy with the policies. This strain has thereby also filtered down to my relationship with the agencies I deal with as I really have no good answers as to time frame or pricing of new boats. This is really putting everyone in a tough position, compromising long-standing international relationships and potentially limiting the ability for state agencies to engage in on-water-safety.
What adjustments or workarounds have you had to make — either operationally or financially — to keep fulfilling these critical contracts?
This is still to be determined as I have reached out to U.S. companies who are still unwilling to and/or unable to satisfy the requirements laid out in my purchase orders. While a goal of the Administration is to bring more manufacturing back into the U.S., the stark reality is that this will take a serious investment of time and money.
What changes in trade policy would you like to see to better support businesses like yours and the public agencies you serve?
I think that it would be logical to make allowances for existing contracts that were made prior to changes in tariff rates, as the tariff regime is making pre-existing deals simply unprofitable and unfair. I also think that exemptions for public safety and government purchases would make sense since those contracts usually are for longer, the money is locked in more than a private sale and done through a competitive bidding process. An exemption on these types of transactions would ensure that our law enforcement and public safety agencies are not hamstrung by the unintended externalities of international trade policy and can continue to focus on what they do best – saving lives and helping people have fun on the water.
Marine Trade & Your Voice
Friedlander’s story underscores how tariff policy and cross-border marine trade are directly affecting dealers and the public safety agencies they support. As the industry navigates these challenges, your voice and experience are more important than ever. Want to tell us about your experiences with tariffs? Take our survey here. If you have questions or are interested in other opportunities to get involved in MRAA advocacy efforts, please email me at Chad@mraa.com.
