JOHN BUWALDA
DIRECTOR OF PURCHASING, BENNINGTON, POLARIS MARINE
What first drew you to the marine industry? My passion for bass fishing( which expanded to boating in general) combined with my interest in designing and building complex products. I am now officially obsessed with boats and am so grateful that I get to do what I love at one of the very best boat builders in the world.
What was your first job? My first job ever was picking huge rocks out the ground at a local farm so they could plow the field without damaging their equipment. I was 14 or 15 and got to drive a pick-up truck and tractor all day, which was awesome. My first professional job was Buyer at Ford working on Powertrain components. It was my first opportunity to move away from home and to learn how to be an adult in the real world. What accomplishments are you most proud of? I’ m most proud of the products I have gotten to work on so far in my career and the relationships I have built along the way. In automotive, I had a hand in some major vehicle launches( F150, Explorer and Corvette).
At Bennington, it has been awesome to get to be intimately involved with all the new product launches( MY23 LXS, MY24 S, MY25 M and MY26 QX). Part of what makes the marine industry awesome is that you get to be involved more deeply and in more areas of the product. The ultimate reward is when we see the new boats out in the wild and get to interact with the end customers who are so excited about their new boats. As much as I love the product and what it means, the relationships are still the best part. I have gotten to meet and work with a ton of awesome people. Did you have any key mentors or influences in your career? Family is key for me. My Mom set an amazing example for me on work ethic and mental toughness and helped coach me to get my first professional job opportunity. Another one is leaders. I have had some good and some not so good leaders along the way, both of which I learned from. Currently at Bennington, I am blessed to have some of the best leadership of career so far. Mike Shedivy and Ben Duke have both taught me so much and given me a ton of opportunities to grow and develop with the company.
Aside from leadership, I have also had a handful of close peers who have been highly influential. Maclean Potts( Bennington) and Jake Williams( Ford) are two that come to mind who are around the same age and in similar places in their careers.
As a young professional, what are the biggest challenges you’ ve faced in the marine industry and how did you overcome them? The big ones for me were adjusting to a different industry and gaining deep knowledge of the product. I come from an automotive background. The way I overcame that is by focusing on making great boats vs trying to make everything like it was in automotive.
I was able to learn the product because I had great people around who coached me. They would always tell me,“ You can’ t contribute until you know the product.” That really stuck with me, so I spent a ton of extra time studying the offering. I would come in early and stay late looking through documents until I felt like I knew what was talking about. How do you hope to inspire others in the marine industry? I would like to inspire others by working hard to make Bennington a great place to work for our team here and by being a great partner to our dealers and suppliers. I also aim to inspire others by making better boats and the boating experience better. How do you set goals for yourself and set yourself up for success? I hold myself to extremely high standards. Whatever I am doing, my goal is to do my very best and to be better than I was yesterday. Some other keys to my success sticking to a routine, continuing to learn by reading and taking time to rest / unplug every so often. Another key attribute to my success is following a routine which I learned a lot from my dad. What boat did you learn to boat on? I have been boating since before I could drive. I had a small canoe that I would drag on wheels to a small lake by my house. The first real boat I had was a 14-foot Jon boat with a 15HP that I built a bass style casting deck on. My first big boy boat was a 1997 Stratos with a 150HP which I bought with a buddy. Where is your favorite place to go boating? Northern Michigan. It’ s one of the most beautiful places, especially in the summer, and the smallmouth fishing is unbelievable. Who was your hero as a child? I had two heroes growing up. Kevin VanDam, the greatest bass fisherman of all time and Brett Favre, the quarterback of my beloved Green Bay Packers. What are some of your favorite non-boating hobbies? This is a tough one since most of my hobbies revolve around being on the water. I enjoy listening to and playing music. I also enjoy doing DIY projects and using them as an excuse to build up my arsenal of tools. Why should young professionals choose a career in the marine industry? Making boats is such a high calling. Just look at how much joy and happiness it gives people and how it brings families and friends together. People who own a boat will tell you it ' s their favorite possession. They think about boating every day of the year. Their fondest memories are on boats. Their favorite songs are about boats. Boating is their lifestyle because their lives are better on a boat. There is simply nothing else like it.
www. boatingindustry. com march 2026
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