State of the Recreational Boating Industry Presentation January 15th

The 2013 State of the Recreational Boating Industry Presentation and Industry Breakfast took place Tuesday, January 15th at the Toronto International Boat Show. The event was sponsored by GE Capital, NMMA Canada and Boating Industry Canada magazine.

The event attracted a capacity crowd of about 200.

The presentations were opened by Andy Adams of Boating Industry Canada talking about two major demographic shifts that will greatly impact future planning for marine industry professionals.

This lead into a feature session delivered by John Peak from GE. His session provided a wealth of information on the global, American and Canadian economic pictures as well as specific marine industry data. John Peak also fielded a number of challenging questions from the floor.

The overall direction Peak presented gave a positive view of a very complex global  business environment.

Donald Dubois, Chairman of the NMMA Canada Board of Directors and President of Princecraft Boats. Donald delivered important research information from the NMMA and handled the business aspects of the NMMA Annual General Meeting along with Sara Anghel, Executive Director of NMMA Canada.  

Sara Anghel also introduced Barry Devolin, MP who has been serving as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock since June 2004. He spoke about the Trent Severn and Rideau systems and the progress that has been made there to safeguard the interests of the boating community.

Tracey Hart, Director of Marketing for Discover Boating  provided a look at the latest Discover Boating Campaign.

Concluding the session, Rick Layzell stood up to induct Chris Goulder into the NMMA  Boating Hall of Fame.

The Toronto Boat Show daily exhibitor newsletter carried these comments; “Chris Goulder has dedicated his career helping unify and strengthen the recreational boating industry in Canada,” said NMMA chair Donald Dubois. As president of Volvo Penta Canada, he excelled at fostering customer relationships during his 33 years in the marine industry, he served as director and chair on many industry boards, including the British Columbia Marine Trades Association, NMMA, and Discover Boating. In 2008, he was the recipient of the BCMTA Industry Leadership award and CASBA Marine professional of the year.”

Look for more information about the sessions of the State of the Recreational Boating Industry on www.boatingindustry.ca

Photo #1 Barry Devolin

Barry Devolin, Conservative Member of Parliament for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock spoke about the Trent Severn and Rideau systems and the progress that has been made there to safeguard the interests of the boating community.

Photo #2 NMMA Breakfast Buffet

Sponsored by Boating Industry Canada magazine, GE Capital and the NMMA

Photo #3 JOHN PEAK – 

John Peak from GE Capital CDF delivered a feature session.