MOVER & SHAKER OF THE YEAR
Cohn and his family have become avid boaters thanks to Freedom Boat Club .
Freedom Boat Club is all about creating a fun , memorable experience for all .
and more involved in the sharing economy and Cohn and Freedom Boat Club bring the analytics to prove that boat clubs are helpful to the industry all around .
“ The exciting thing about not just Freedom Boat Club , but shared access models in general , is that they are truly attracting the next generation of boaters and are really growing the pie ,” Cohn said .
Freedom has grown to more than 90,000 members – in the form of 60,000 memberships – across its global network , and more than one-third of its members are women . Cohn mentioned that Freedom is also performing well with other various traditionally under-represented demographics in the marine industry .
“ It ’ s very rare that you come across a business model that has such wide appeal ,” Cohn said . “ Boat clubs in general are not only doing a really good job of attracting female and other under-represented demographics , we ’ re also doing a really good job of attracting people that are younger than the typical boat owner would be . And on top of that we ’ re retaining people that are older than the typical boat owner . Ultimately , we ’ re creating opportunities for people to be boaters for a longer portion of their lifespan and that ’ s really exciting .”
Cohn explained that Freedom has found that roughly 90 % of the people joining the club had no initial intention of buying a new boat when they joined .
“ Our club retention rate currently stands higher than many other memberbased opportunities like golf and private aviation clubs , at 90 %,” Cohn said . “ Of that 10 % that leave the club on an annual basis , one out of five exits are because
" ULTIMATELY , WE ' RE CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE TO BE BOATERS FOR A LONGER PORTION OF THEIR LIFESPAN AND THAT ' S REALLY EXCITING ."
they graduated to becoming a boat owner . So as Freedom Boat Club continues to scale , that math begins to become rather compelling .”
Cohn also explained that outside of the consumer side of it , there are numerous opportunities for dealers to partner with local boat clubs . From prep and rigging , to service contracts and opportunities to grow their used boat inventory , and much more , boat clubs offer much more to dealers beyond just bringing new boaters into the marketplace .
Finding a passion
Despite not growing up on the water , armed with a drive to be the best leader he can be , Cohn has found a passion in and for the marine industry . And he aims to bring that passion for the industry and drive to create the best possible experience for customers on the water to as many people as he and the Freedom Boat Club team can . At any possible moment , Cohn is quick to note that it ’ s a team effort all around to create the success that he ’ s found in his tenure with Brunswick and Freedom Boat
Club . He credits a variety of mentors and the team around him for instilling a passion for helping people create memories out on the water .
“ When people think about their experiences in life and what you ’ re working on every day , whether you ’ re working in the boat building process or the services that support the industry or something in between , we ’ re all working together to create these remarkable experiences for people on and off the water and that ’ s just really cool ,” Cohn said .
18 october 2023 www . boatingindustry . com