June 2018

  • Published On: June 30, 2018

    Legislation provides funding for manufacturers to train employees and retain institutional knowledge U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today joined Congressman David Cicilline and leaders in Rhode Island’s manufacturing industry to unveil new legislation to help manufacturers temporarily retain retiring employees to train a replacement and transfer their institutional knowledge. Whitehouse made the announcement at Cooley Group, [...]

  • Published On: June 28, 2018

    New powerboat registrations were up 3.6 percent on a rolling 12-month year-over-year basis according to the updated National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) New Powerboat Registrations Report. Sales of cruisers, tow boats, personal watercraft, saltwater fishing boats, freshwater fishing boats and yachts all grew, indicating expanding growth. Highlights from the report include: • Cruisers, tow boats [...]

  • Published On: June 26, 2018

    The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee included funding for the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account (ORSA) in its Fiscal Year 2019 Commerce, Justice, and Science bill. Lawmakers set funding for ORSA at $1.5 million, meeting the funding levels necessary to survey the economic impact of the outdoor recreation industry [...]

  • Published On: June 21, 2018

    Many businesses in the U.S. assume the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) doesn't affect them since it's a European-based regulation. However, the boating industry is a global marketplace and it is quite possible that even small businesses will be affected by the new regulations, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) website: “Your customers [...]

  • Published On: June 19, 2018

    The Trump administration’s recently announced Section 301 tariffs of 25 percent on approximately $50 billion worth of select Chinese products include nearly 300 marine-related parts. National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) President, Thom Dammrich, is calling on the administration to withdraw the tariffs. “The U.S. recreational boating industry—a $39 billion industry that supports 650,000 American jobs—experienced [...]

  • Published On: June 14, 2018

    The U.S. Department of the Interior, along with the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, recently published a new free booklet to help kids get hooked on fishing. The Junior Ranger “Let’s Go Fishing!” activity booklet introduces kids and their families to fishing and encourages healthy and responsible outdoor recreation. Kids [...]

  • Published On: June 12, 2018

    Discover Boating, a public awareness effort managed by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), is offering a new free resource to provide relevant boating lifestyle content for marine fabricators’ Facebook business pages. This new social media content program, called Get Social with Discover Boating, is available to industry stakeholders in the U.S. and Canada at [...]

  • Published On: June 7, 2018

    The Department of Commerce’s U.S. Commercial Service, along with the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), has released the 2018 Pleasure Boat International Resource Guide. This free resource, which includes reports on 32 countries, gives current and prospective exporters specific market insight and information. Click here to download your free copy of the guide.

  • Published On: June 5, 2018

    Polaris Industries Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Boat Holdings LLC, a boat manufacturer owned by the Vogel family, management and Balmoral Funds, in an all-cash transaction valued at a net present value of approximately $805 million. Boat Holdings is the largest manufacturer of pontoon boats in the U.S., one of the largest [...]