Printable VersionLake Havasu City’s marine manufacturing industry is coping with the slowed economy, according to representatives of two local boat-building businesses. Neither of the two manufacturers seems to be affected by one national lender’s elimination of RV and marine lending programs.
 News-Herald File Photo. An Advantage boat is seen in this News-Herald file photo at this year’s Lake Havasu Boat Show. |
“There is no other company in America that will take on marine (inventory) flooring … it is part of the bigger picture in the marine industry,” said Jim Salscheider, executive director of Lake Havasu City Marine Association.
Salscheider explained one lending company, General Electric Credit Corp., is the only lending company in the United States allocating lending programs for marine and RV inventory, or flooring of the products.
The hardship lies with GECC not taking on any new clients. “If you didn’t have them (GECC) to begin with, then you are out of luck,” Salscheider said of GECC not accepting new customers in regard to KeyBank ridding themselves of marine and RV lending operations.
The few boat builders interviewed by the Today’s News-Herald were not affected by KeyBank’s reorganization late last year, but they have taken other measures to stay afloat in the slow economy. Some turned to staff cuts, while others try to stay focused with a positive mindset.
Group 1 Marine LLC, manufacturing company for Conquest Boats has faced significant staff cuts due to the current economic slump. “We’ve laid everybody off. I am down to four employees out of 18,” said Group 1 Marine General Manager Jody Gamble.
“I don’t floor boats, so I don’t get myself into trouble that way,” he said. Each Conquest boat is built to order when a sale is made in lieu of producing a number of boats with hope of selling them, Gamble said.
“It is real difficult to get money out of the consumer’s pocket today. We should be building a boat per week. We are building our first boat in five months,” he said.
Gamble said Conquest boats are built upon order, which saves the business costs that develop from an overflow of inventory.
“In the boating world, we are all kind of in trouble, but the strong will survive. It is a fun business but lately we all feel it,” Gamble said.
“Times are tough right now, but we will be fine. We are building a boat here and a boat there for dealers and customers,” said Advantage Boats owner Debbie Christensen. In business 30 years, Christensen said she has experienced many highs and lows, but not quite this low. Christensen is confident the economy will turn around.
“Things have picked up around here, the phone is starting to ring and a few customers have come through the door. Last year was a tough year and this year will be another tough year, but I know it will come back. I am starting to feel a little bit better,” said Christensen.
The majority of boats produced by Advantage boats are custom-built boats, according to the company owner. “We don’t build a ton of inventory boats,” she said. A few boats are kept on hand to show customers or for product representation at boat shows, Christensen said. Most commonly, a customer will pick the model of boat, the graphic, the upholstery and bimini colors before the Advantage crew begin work on the purchase, she said.
In comparison to tough economic times the local marine industry is facing, a 2006 study is revisited as a reminder to the importance of the marine industry to the community.
A 2006 study performed by Competitive Strategies LLC, tracked Lake Havasu City’s marine industry in areas of jobs it created and the extent of employee revenue that indirectly filtered through the community.
The study considered the major groups of the local marine industry to be boat manufacturing, boat sales, boat rental and storage, and boat maintenance and boat repair.
In 2006, the study attributed 900-950 jobs to be linked to the marine industry. The largest of the groups, boat manufacturing, was accounted employment of 330 people; boat sales represented approximately 110 workers; and the two groups of boat rental, storage, maintenance and repairs collectively employed approximately 250 individuals, according to the study.
The 900-950 workers included in the major or core industry groups of the study reported $43 million of local labor income that in turn indirectly supported nearly 500 other local jobs.
The annual tax revenues generated by the marine industry were estimated at more than $14 million, $6.9 million in federal taxes and $7.2 million in state/local taxes, according to the study.
“The local marine industry is a unique economic asset in Lake Havasu City. … The high degree of specialization exhibited by the marine industry indicates its critical role to the local economy and economic development potential,” according to the study.
Calls were not immediately returned from Campbell Boats, Domin8er Powerboats, and Cheetah Boats for comment on the state of the city’s marine industry.
Nordic Boats declined an interview with the Today’s News-Herald in regard to the same issue.
You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.
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