The National Marine Manufacturers Association approved a three-year strategic plan that will emphasize expanding its advocacy efforts, research, industry promotion and workforce development.
This story by Michael Verdon appeared in Trade Only Today.
The plan is designed to increase the association’s impact for members and the recreational marine community, according to a story in a recent Currents newsletter, “to ensure a strong, stable and successful industry.”
The three-year strategy was created by a task force of the NMMA executive committee, which comprises boat and engine manufacturers and board members, along with research provided by Robert Newsome, NMMA senior vice president of strategy, engineering standards and membership, and the association strategy firm Potomac Core Consulting.
NMMA president Thom Dammrich said the process for developing the plan took 12 months. It involved interviews, surveys, analysis, brainstorming, meetings of a strategic planning task force and two long meetings of the NMMA board, division board members and Grow Boating board.
“The input from the interviews was used to structure a quantitative survey of all NMMA members, non-members, exhibitors in NMMA shows and MRAA members,” Dammrich told Trade Only Today. “We spent eight months digesting a 100-page report from the research, looking at alternatives and settling on a final plan.”
The NMMA board confirmed its “core purpose” is to promote and protect recreational boating with advocacy and market expansion. It will continue with existing programs, as well as increase investment in advocacy at the state and federal levels, conduct more research and promotion focused on retaining and recruiting boat owners through its Discover Boating program, and backing workforce development initiatives.
Dammrich said the NMMA also will restore $1 million to Grow Boating in 2019 and “look to do more” in future years.
“We will also dedicate $200,000 a year to consumer research to better understand how to attract and retain first-time boat buyers,” Dammrich said. “We’ll also increase investment in workforce development by creating models for marine businesses to be successful in working locally to attract qualified workers.”