A plan to guide the National Marine Manufacturer’s Association’s (NMMA) efforts and investments for the next three years was recently approved by the NMMA Board of Directors. The plan was designed by the association’s 2018 Executive Committee, comprised of representatives from leading marine manufacturers. The planning was led by Robert Newsome, senior vice president of strategy, engineering standards, and membership with additional advice from strategic firm Potomac Core Consulting.
The plan is intended to increase the association’s impact on the marine community and ensure a prosperous industry in the years to come. To reach this goal, the committee oversaw extensive research and interviews with members plus surveys of both members and non-members. Financial and economic reviews of existing programs were also conducted. The results of the interviews confirmed that members felt the NMMA’s core purpose should remain promoting recreational boating through advocacy. In response, the association has decided to continue its efforts with federal and state advocacy, engineering standards and certification, research, shows and events, communications, export development, and the Grow Boating initiatives.
“While we weren’t surprised by the outcome, conducting the research allows us to better understand the impact and importance of NMMA’s existing programs and reaffirms our commitment in these areas,” said Ben Speciale, chair of the NMMA Board of Directors and president of Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit. The research also confirmed the importance of increasing investment in advocacy on both the state and federal level, industry promotion focused on attracting new boaters, and developing the marine workforce.
“The insights we received from hundreds of stakeholders across the industry really drove the direction of the plan and gave us the information we needed to carve out NMMA’s primary areas of focus for the next three years,” said Bill Watters, past chair of the NMMA Board of Directors and president of Syntec Industries.
The NMMA plan includes increasing the advocacy BoatPAC fund to $500,000 a year, conducting market research to recruit new boaters, and growing the workforce. The board has already begun implementing the plan and will be sharing key updates throughout the coming year.
