Brunswick Corp. chief human resources officer Brenna Preisser has been with the company for 15 years, mostly behind the scenes. Recently named president of Brunswick’s new Business Acceleration division, she is now charged with making things happen — and quickly.
Acknowledging that passion for the water is a hook the company can take advantage of, she said business acceleration is about targeting “future participants.”
A big part of that is the sharing economy, she told Trade Only, and Brunswick saw an opportunity in acquiring Freedom Boat Club, which has 200 locations in 31 states, as well as France and Canada.
Freedom Boat Club is more than a user organization. It gives members a social experience in addition to time on the water. “How do we make sure that people are getting the most out of their time when they’re on the water?” asked Preisser. “Boating is fun and social, so we have to bring those dimensions to the opportunities we have in front of us.”
Preisser added that accelerating value creation requires partnerships. Some of those partnerships are with research outlets, such as Northwestern Michigan Design Institute and the University of Illinois through Brunswick’s i-Jet Lab.
Brunswick also has worked with such research programs as TechNexus to invest in early-stage startups, giving them the capital they need for research.
Brunswick also is the parent company of distributor Land ‘N’ Sea.
