MOVERS & SHAKERS FINALISTS
BRYAN REDMOND
Co-Founder, CEO, Suntex Marinas
Bryan Redmond was exposed to the marina business long before taking on the role of CEO at Suntex Marinas in 2021. Growing up in Texas, his father was an entrepreneur who owned more than a dozen restaurants. When his parents bought land on Lake Travis, intended as retirement property, it set the course for his career.
“ They ended up having one of the last permits to build a marina on Lake Travis,” Redmond said.“ We ended up building a marina and a water park called VIP Marina. My first job as a teenager was the opportunity to work at the marina – worked in the store, the cash register, met the customers, worked the docks, pumped gas. I got to be exposed to the industry in a unique way at a young age.”
After attending Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Redmond started his career at Arthur Andersen in Dallas. Later, he was introduced to marina investor Johnny Powers.
He went to work for Powers in 2002 as an analyst, learning how to put businesses together and underwrite and value marinas.
Over the next several years, Redmond worked alongside Powers and Ron Rhodes at Sun Resorts, eventually becoming a partner before the company was sold in 2007. That experience opened his eyes to opportunities in the marina space.
By late 2008, Redmond, Powers and Rhodes began drafting the business plan that would become Suntex Marinas. The vision was simple but transformative: take the mom-and-pop, fragmented industry and build a scaled platform that ran marinas not just as storage for boats, but as hospitality experiences.
That philosophy fueled Suntex’ s growth. By 2013, the company had 17 marinas, and by 2015, Suntex Marina Investors was launched, changing the marina landscape.
“ We had the opportunity to become the first marina real estate investment trust( REIT)," Redmond explained. " It took a lot of work to get a private letter ruling from the IRS. It took almost two and a half years and my CFO, Tom Tipton, was the leader in getting that done. I was proud of being part of that. When we got the letter in the mail it was a huge deal, not only for Suntex, but in the indsutry because we were the first to do that."
Now, others have become marina REITs, benefiting from access to capital that wasn ' t available to the industry prior.
In 2021, Redmond took on the role of CEO of Suntex.“ I’ ve had the great opportunity to run Suntex Marinas since that March 21 date, which has been a ton of fun and we’ ve grown tremendously," he said. When he started as CEO, Suntex operated 30 marinas. Today, the entity runs 95 marinas.
Redmond is proud of initiatives that set Suntex apart, like the company’ s partnership with hospitality schools. Suntex has helped develop a marina operations curriculum, internships and a manager in training program.
“ Before we started doing that five or six years ago, I don’ t think the majority of students who were going to hospitality school saw marinas as a real career path,” he said.“[ Watching ] some of the success those young students have had from our organization, who have become leaders within the organization at such a young age, has been really neat to be part of.”
As a leader, Redmond is approachable and strives to make employees feel understood.“ I consider myself a man of the people,” he said.“ Having the experience of working at a marina to understanding the financial side, the operational side, and trying to understand every aspect of the business allows me to be a leader who helps accomplish things strategically with others.”
He credits mentors throughout his career – his father, Johnny Powers and Ron Rhodes – as well as the many marina operators who sold to Suntex but stayed on as partners.
“ It’ s been really neat to have those typically older gentlemen who have had similar experiences to lean on,” he said.“ Not just owning and operating marinas but even trying to navigate raising four children and a happy marriage. You always need good mentors and good advice to help you through those challenges.”
He has also invested in mentoring others.“ I think we have four former team members of Suntex that have actually gone on to start their own marina companies,” he shared.“ Sometimes I wish they didn’ t necessarily create companies to compete directly against us, but if you step back and think about it, it’ s neat to play a part in helping them learn about the marina business and learn how to take that risk on their own. Looking back, it’ s been very fulfilling to have been a part of that.”
Looking ahead, Redmond sees both challenges and opportunities. He points to an aging, non-diverse customer base and the need for the industry to work together to attract new boaters.
“ Our average boat owner / customer is in their mid 50s today,” he said.“ Our current customer base is not very diverse. I think there’ s a very unique opportunity to get people into boating. It’ s such a great lifestyle.”
He shared the opportunity for manufacturers, retailers and service providers is to work together to improve the customer experience.“ At the end of the day, I don’ t feel like we’ re competing against other marina operators as much as we are just competing for people’ s time,” he continued.“ I know my team, we talk about that a lot. Our biggest risk is that somebody decides that the boating lifestyle is just not worth their time anymore.”
To meet that challenge, Suntex provides multiple access points to the water, from rentals and boat clubs to dinner cruises and paddleboards.“ The more we do that, the more interest there’ s going to be.”
And for Redmond, the journey is far from over.“ It’ s been a fun ride, but we still have a ways to go,” he said.“ I think the next 10 years are going to be even more fun.”
www. boatingindustry. com september / october 2025
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