Two boat shops closed in town and so we got BURIED.   No seriously….without Kale, I would never have kept up.   Boat repair has been huge and the swim platform business continues to explode.   And the platforms just get better and better with our commitment to quality and innovation.

SeaDek is coming to the Pacific Northwest.    This is an excerpt from the business plan that I am writing:

Contemporary Marine Flooring creates non skid flooring systems for boats and other applications where non skid textures are important.

There are three steps to creating the flooring system-

1)   template the area to be covered.

2)   Create pads to fit the template.

3)   Install the pads.

SeaDek Marine Products* is located in Rockledge FL.    They developed the initial flooring system.  They have grown to a point that they cannot keep up with demand in spite of moving into a larger facility and hiring / training personnel as fast as they can.  They have decided as a corporation to create satellite operations that are certified to sell and create their flooring systems.    Currently there are 5 of these satellite operations located in the most boat owner saturated areas of the country.   These operations are called Certified Fabricators.    SeaDek has asked me to be the sixth, and likely last, of these Certified Fabricators representing the Pacific Northwest area.

Mission Statement-

Contemporary Marine Flooring will create Marine Flooring Systems for customers in the Pacific Northwest that equal or surpass the quality of the original SeaDek flooring systems.   This includes Contemporary Fiberglass and Marine as a primary customer creating a unique synergistic relationship that creates co-branding, marketing and discounted raw material opportunities.  Contemporary Marine Flooring will strive to achieve remarkable profits for the owners and creative and fun opportunities for it’s employees and Certified Installers.

Company Goals and Objectives-

The main location / shop for Seadek fabrication will be in Spokane,WA.   It is desirable to have Certified Installers in the major areas of concentrated boat ownership-  Seattle, Portland and Vancouver.   Certified Installers are people who have graduated from a specific training program** put on by SeaDek.   Contemporary Marine Flooring goals include being a leader in customer service with a loyal customer following.

Business Philosophy–

Product will be marketed to primarily Marine customers, both private boat owners and major boat marinas / service centers.    We plan to also attempt to broaden the demand by eventually targeting the aviation industry and other applications where non skid flooring is important.  For instance, SeaDek has established a contract with Yeti Coolers, a popular manufacturer of high-end coolers, to create decorative yet functional pads for the tops of the coolers.  There are unlimited large and smaller end uses for a closed cell EVA foam pad that can be decorative as well as functional.

This segment of the marine industry is growing rapidly.   In fact, that is the reason that SeaDek has decided to create these Certified Fabricator companies; to mitigate the extremely long lead times that currently exist because supply cannot keep up with demand.   Almost all major U.S. boat manufactures have switched to Seadek as their non skid flooring supplier.

SeaDek is based in Florida.   Therefore, past marketing has been concentrated in that area and has spread slowly up the east coat and to the west.  SeaDek has not done a lot of advertising in the Pacific Northwest.    That means that the already high demand in this area will only increase in both the short and long terms.  Since I already have a strong reputation for custom extended swim platforms in the Pacific Northwest, and the strongest internet search result*** (SeaDek Pacific Northwest / Contemporary Fiberglass) for SeaDek in the Pacific Northwest, I am the logical choice to become the Certified Fabricator for this region.   Contemporary Marine Flooring will utilize that foundation in order to build a network of marketing strategies in order to grow this business as fast as Contemporary Fiberglass has grown.

Important company strengths include two owners that possess the two most important needs of this business-   knowledge of the product and process and a strong administrative background to handle the intricacies of the three system components- templating, fabricating and installing along with the order and delivery process.  Scott currently owns and operates a company that includes SeaDek systems as a good portion of that company’s product offerings.     He has templated and installed hundreds of SeaDek pads.    Jeanne is currently a business process analyst for one of the largest employers in the U.S.  Her job is administrative support to several large government contracts executives.  Further review of the owners’ resumes will highlight additional strengths.

The company will have a good chance to succeed because in addition to SeaDek’s commitment to assistance such as immediate orders to be delegated, then there is the co branding, marketing and technical support and finally the new company’s prior knowledge of how to obtain additional orders through regional boat shows and local advertising.   As mentioned previously, there will also be Certified Installers whose job will be not only to do the templating and installing but will also be responsible for marketing and selling.   This will occur through dealer introductions, literature handouts at marinas and finally by word of mouth.   We have found that since there are natural concentrations of boats in marinas (i.e. concentration of targeted customers), that once SeaDek begins to show up on a few boats, then Everyone in the marina wants to know what it is and how can they get it installed on their boat!!

This business will be set up as an LLC, same as Contemporary Fiberglass.

So, since we are already such HUGE fans of SeaDek, it comes as a big honor to be asked to be the sixth, and final satellite operation with the authorization to produce SeaDek.

That’s all the time I have peeps.    Will try to do better posting because I know that some find this very interesting (so I’ve been told).

In the meantime, if you are interested in a Safe Step Swim Platform….or are in the market for some SeaDek, please visit the website:   www.myswimplatform.com.

Cheers!!

Scott and Jeanne