Women in Textiles Virtual Summit speaker line-up announced
February 25th, 2021
The Women in Textiles Virtual Summit taking place the afternoon of Thursday, March 4, and the morning of Friday, March 5 has announced its speaker line-up for the event. The goal of the summit is to strengthen the advancement of women and men through an interactive forum that provides education, networking and dialogue about important […]
2021 Atlantic City Boat Show canceled
February 24th, 2021
The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) has decided to cancel this year’s Progressive Insurance Atlantic City Boat Show. After exploring all avenues to move ahead with a 2021 event (originally postponed from Feb. to April 2021), and continuing to follow guidance from state/local authorities and the Atlantic City Convention Center, canceling the 2021 boat show […]
Renewable energy sources are the future of the marine industry
February 23rd, 2021
In a highly informative and detailed education session during the IFAI Fabricators Conference & Showcase on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, John Martin, Ph. D., Appalachian State University, gave a presentation that examined the history, present day use and future of solar and wind energy in the marine industry. Through a combination of videos and slides, […]
Employers face continued challenges creating employee pandemic policies
February 23rd, 2021
Kicking off the second day of the IFAI Fabricators Conference & Showcase on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, human resources expert, Chad Sorenson, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, from Adaptive HR Solutions LLC, presented a session entitled “Employee Strategies in the midst of COVID-19.” Sorenson says that for the past year, employers have been forced to “make things up […]
Improve scheduling in your shop with a digital job board
February 23rd, 2021
Torey Heinz, the founder of Shopflow productivity software for marine, canvas and upholstery shops, discussed the importance of shop scheduling during his presentation at the IFAI Fabricators Conference & Showcase on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Heinz introduced the idea of using a digital job board to organize and display jobs so that shop owners can […]
MFA Virtual Series continues with awards, networking, shop tours and business smarts
February 22nd, 2021
The second session of the three-part Marine Fabricators Association (MFA) Virtual Series took place Feb. 18 with attendees from across the U.S. and around the world. The central presentation, by Charlene Clark, Signature CanvasMakers, was called, “Scaling Your Business: Keys to Achieving Sustainable Growth.” Clark touched on the key elements needed to help effectively scale […]
Minnesota boat builders busy with surging interest
February 19th, 2021
A recent Minnesota StarTribune newspaper article reports that major boat manufacturers in Minnesota are scrambling to expand their payrolls in response to surging demand for leisure boats during the pandemic. According to the article, Brunswick's production facility in New York Mills, Minn., where Lund and Crestliner boats are built, has added 114 positions in the […]
2020 Outboard Engine Sales Trends Report available
February 18th, 2021
The first section of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) 2020 U.S. Recreational Boating Statistical Abstract, Outboard Engine Sales Trends, is now available. Outboard engine retail sales rose for the ninth consecutive year in 2020 to a total of 330,000 units, the highest annual sales volume in 20 years and up 18% compared to 2019. […]
Multiple states unveil efforts to reduce single-use plastic
February 17th, 2021
State legislators from nine states–California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington–recently announced a coordinated effort to establish single-use packaging reductions by holding producers responsible for the end-of-life management of plastic packaging, according to reporting from the National Marine Manufacturers Association. Each measure follows the extended producer responsibility (EPR) model initiative […]
Key federal conservation program strengthened
February 17th, 2021
The U.S. Department of the Interior has taken steps to strengthen the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) by revoking an order signed on November 9, 2020, that imposed restrictions to inhibit the availability of LWCF funding for federal land and water acquisitions. “The Land and Water Conservation Fund has been crucial to protecting public […]