October 2008
®
34,183
Top powerboat
searches by state
(for August)
For complete stats,
see page 118
BoatTraderOnline.com
12,087
7,143
10,325
8,787
WWW.TRADEONLYTODAY.COM $5.00
FL
CA
TX
MI
WA
Advice for trying times
By Steve Knauth
INSIDE
Eyes on Lauderdale
SPECIAL REPORT
Editor’s note: In the first of an occasional series of stories, three veteran
dealers provide advice and strategies
for making it through the current
downturn.
Fort Lauderdale International Boat
Show producer Skip Zimbalist will
try to make the Oct. 30-Nov. 3 extravaganza the sales spark the industry is so eagerly awaiting. Page 24
Biillll,, Bob and Ken
Pettzolld diirrectt a
60--yearr--olld marriina//
deallerrshiip iin
Porrttlland,, Conn.
STEVE KNAUTH
Petzold’s Marine Center has weathered
more than a few storms since founders Bill
and Agnes Petzold sold their first boat out
of a front-yard sales office in 1946. They
lived through the decline of wood as hull
material and the rise of fiberglass, the fuel
crisis and recession of the 1970s, and the
lean luxury tax years of the early 1990s.
Today, the full-service, new- and used-boat dealership in Portland, Conn., employs 21 full-time people and boasts eight-figure annual sales. Its service department
is trained in Yanmar, Crusader, Evinrude,
Mercury and Volvo Penta engines, as well
See Petzold’s, Page 65
Hybrids on horizon
Automakers are scoring with hybrids, but only a couple of U.S.
boatbuilders have wet their feet in
the new technology. A European
firm aims to change that. Page 30
Workforce training is new focus at IBEX
Education tops the agenda for the big boatbuilding trade show Oct. 6-8
Blitzed by storms
They were strong in number — as
many as four at a time — but the
blitz of late-summer hurricanes left
the boating business relatively unscathed. The season, unfortunately,
doesn’t end until Nov. 30. Page 34
By Beth Rosenberg / Staff Writer
b.rosenberg@tradeonlytoday.com
While education is always a key ingredient of the annual International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition and Conference, this
year’s event features an emphasis on workforce development
and training.
For the first time, the Marine Industry Training and Education Council’s Conference on Marine Industry Technical
Training will be paired with IBEX. In addition, MITEC is sponsoring a track of seminars during the show.
The 18th annual IBEX runs Oct. 6-8 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. COMITT will take place as a preconference
session Sunday, Oct. 5, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. COMITT attendees will have free admittance to the IBEX show floor.
“IBEX is really the premiere event for the boatbuilding industry, and MITEC being centered on workforce development
issues as they relate to the marine industry, it seemed to us
the logical place for us to penetrate the message of MITEC
and COMITT,” says MITEC chairman Steve Kitchin, vice president of corporate education and training at the New England
Institute of Technology in Warwick, R.I.
Kitchin contends that workforce development is critical in a
slow economy. “The reality is that the reprieve that business lead-
See IBEX, Page 25
ADVERTISING SPECIAL
Boatbuilding 2008
HEARD IT HERE FIRST
“This recession differs from previous
economic downturns because of better
inventory controls at the manufacturing level,
which will lead to an accelerated
— Ceasar Anquillare, WinMarine V
PAGE 40 ”recovery.
entures LLC
A special ad section that can serve
as a guide to progressive OEM
suppliers to boatbuilders. Page 53
Media review
Our annual guide to innovative
media companies that can help you
improve your business. Page 75
