• Call for MFA board members

    Published On: August 11, 2015Categories: Industry News, News

    The Marine Fabricators Association (MFA), a division of IFAI, is seeking five industry professionals to serve on its board of directors. The positions require a two-year term that would begin after the Marine Fabricators Conference in Clearwater, Fla., Jan. 14–16, 2016. Interested candidates must be employed by a voting member company in good standing, and [...]

  • Floridian dreams of helping Cubans prepare for fishing tourists

    Published On: August 11, 2015Categories: Industry News, News

    Assuming the thawing of relations—as announced in January by President Obama—between Havana and Washington progresses, professional angler Philip Thompson of Tampa, Fla., would like someday to help Cubans to promote their country’s fishing attractions to American tourists. “It is a great place to fish and American anglers will flock there as tourists when they can,” [...]

  • NMMA, NMRA to collaborate on initiatives

    Published On: August 10, 2015Categories: Industry News, News

    The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and the National Marine Representatives Association (NMRA) have announced they will collaborate on recreational boating objectives for the benefit of both organizations’ respective members. The agreement includes NMRA working with NMMA in support of industry legislative and regulatory issues, as well as BoatPAC, the American Boating Congress, IBEX and [...]

  • Younger boaters replacing older ones

    Published On: August 7, 2015Categories: Industry News, News

    The Racine (Wis.) Journal Times recently cited boating industry representative as saying that enough “younger boaters” are replacing older generations that recreational boating should remain economically vibrant for years to come. “There is fall-off, but there are always new people that get into it,” John Matheson, chief operating officer of Milwaukee-based Siegel-Gallagher, told the paper. Siegel-Gallagher manages [...]

  • Recreational boating industry using biobutanol as alternative biofuel

    Published On: July 14, 2015Categories: Industry News, News

    Biobutanol has been identified as a suitable and safe alternative biofuel to ethanol according to engine manufacturers from across the recreational boating industry. For five years, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) under the direction and guidance of the U.S. Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory [...]

  • International Boat Show in Fort Lauderdale rebranded

    Published On: July 13, 2015Categories: Industry News, News

    The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show has hired communications firm Starmark International to develop “a new brand, creative campaign and website” for this November’s event. This show, which is entering its 56th year, was seeking “a new look and feel to reflect our vision,” said Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III, president of Show Management for Fort [...]

  • Powerboat registrations up in first quarter

    Published On: July 7, 2015Categories: Industry News, News

    National Marine Manufacturers Association reports in the first quarter of 2015, new registrations of traditional powerboats and personal watercrafts were up 6.5% YOY (January-March 2015 compared to January-March 2014) and up 9.5% R12M YOY (April 2014-March 2015 compared to April 2013-March 2014). PWCs, jet drive boats, skiboats and outboard boats led growth, up 20.2%, 15.4%, [...]

  • MFA’s annual meeting gets a new name

    Published On: July 1, 2015Categories: Industry News, News

    A bit of in-house business first: You’ll soon see a slight change in the way the Marine Fabricators Association presents itself. Our parent group—IFAI—is undergoing a new branding effort that will bring all of its member organizations under a more-unified image. The aim is to simplify and drive decision-making for the company and also signify [...]

  • The State of the Industry 2015

    Published On: July 1, 2015Categories: Features, Industry News, News

    By Jeffrey C. Rasmussen The world economy: key statistics It was a recovery year, to be sure, but an uneven global rebound kept the lid on the world economy. For the past three quarters of the year in 2013 and 2014, the United States has been an economic island, showing noticeable improvement in comparison to [...]

  • Jake Owen to host Discover Boating Q&A on Twitter today

    Published On: June 30, 2015Categories: Industry News, News

    Country music artist and avid boater, Jake Owen, will host a live Twitter question-and-answer session from his account (@jakeowen) today at 5:30 p.m. CDT. Fans can submit questions before the chat by tagging them #BoatingwithJake. Discover Boating is a public awareness effort managed by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), an organization that focuses on [...]