// INDUSTRY NEWS
Boating Industry seeks Top Dealers nominations
The Boating Industry 2025 Top Dealers applications, part of the Top 100 Awards, are open until September 8, 2025.
Dealers are encouraged to submit one of two applications, which will be reviewed by the Boating Industry team.
The Simple Application is for dealers who wish to be considered as a 2025 Top Dealer. They will be required to provide financial information and other basic information.
For dealers who wish to be considered for top awards such as the Top 20 ranked dealers, Best in Class and Dealer of the Year, Boating Industry offers a Full Application. This form allows the Boating Industry team to take a deeper dive into each nominated dealership.
These applications are available on the Boating Industry website at https:// boatingindustry. com / top-100 / application /
Program details:
Boating Industry will select a group of Top Dealers based on the information submitted and other industry research conducted by Boating Industry staff.
The top 20 companies will be ranked based on the Full Application submissions, recognizing them for their elite status in the industry. The number one ranked dealer will be recognized as“ Dealer of the Year.”
Boating Industry will also select several Best in Class Award winners. Those Best in Class awards will include Best Place to Work, Best Digital Strategy, Best Boat Show Strategy, Best
Events, Best Marketing, Best Industry Advocate, Most Innovative and Best Service Department. These categories are subject to change.
Dealers can save and return to their application as often as they wish before submitting it. Dealers will also be given an opportunity to print and review their application before final submission. To do so, please create an account with an active email address when starting the application.
Any photos dealers wish to submit with their application can be delivered through a file transfer site to mhubbard @ epgacceleration. com.
Meeting and exceeding rising consumer expectations is no small feat in today’ s competitive market. Yet, these challenges have become second nature for professional dealerships, seamlessly woven into their daily operations. These dealers recognize that true success lies not just in selling boats, but in delivering the full promise of the boating lifestyle.
Companies that:
Display a consistent and clear understanding that the profitability of the organization is directly related to the extent that it focuses on customer satisfaction;
Provide customers with an experience worth returning for and recommending to others;
Prepare for future success with sound planning, marketing and training initiatives;
And ensure an exceptional boating lifestyle
Are encouraged to apply to be recognized as one of the top dealers in North America. Applications are due September 8, 2025.
NMMA and MRAA launch Market Expansion Advisory Group
The National Marine Manufacturers Association( NMMA) and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas( MRAA) have launched the Market Expansion Advisory Group to confront declining new boat sales and unify the recreational marine industry around a shared growth strategy.
Hand-picked for their deep marketing expertise across OEMs and dealerships and with an NMMA board liaison, the Advisory Group includes:
Thomas Bates, chief revenue officer, Correct Craft
Lauren Beckstedt, chief marketing officer,
Brunswick Bryce Brown, owner, MasterCraft Colorado Abbey Heimensen, vice president marketing, MarineMax
Amber Holm, chief marketing officer, Winnebago Industries; also sits on the Board of Directors for the RVIA’ s GoRV’ ing initiative
Victor Gonzalez, chief marketing officer, Sportsman Boats
Rob Parmentier, chief executive officer, Sailfish Boats and NMMA Board of Directors liaison
Bryan Seti, general manager, Yamaha Watercraft; national sales and marketing, G3 Boats
“ This is bigger than a campaign; it’ s about how we work together to serve a changing consumer through shared resources that allow us to accomplish what no single entity can accomplish on its own,” said Lauren Beckstedt, CMO of Brunswick.“ Like any good marketing effort, the group will ensure decisions are rooted in data and partnership and bring clear measures of success for Discover Boating that ignite industry action.”
“ We need a solution to grow this industry because sales are not only declining, they’ re going away,” said Rob Parmentier, CEO of Sailfish Boats.“ People are choosing to rent, join a boat club or not even become a boater at all. Something has to change and our goal for this group is to ignite the spark we need to enact real change and get our industry on the right track to grow.”
The Advisory Group will determine how success should be defined for Discover Boating and how this success can be achieved. The group’ s recommendation on how the industry defines success for Discover Boating will be presented to the NMMA and MRAA by the end of October. Recommendations for how to achieve this success will be developed after the board gives feedback.
To inform this work, Discover Boating is commissioning first-of-its-kind, in-depth consumer research to pinpoint the buyers of today and tomorrow. After the research is completed in September, it will be shared with the industry in the fall. It’ s being guided by the Advisory Group and executed in partnership with global research firm Ipsos.
8 july / august 2025 www. boatingindustry. com