Business View Magazine | March 2021

38 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MARCH 2021 The COVID-19 pandemic has helped alleviate a lot of these challenges because it triggered record setting sales and demand. “People weren’t flying and taking vacations with their family,” says Kolodny. “They determined they needed to find recreation and happiness in other areas, and boating and the RV industry, we both benefitted from that.” For those in the marine industry who are building boats or products with all American- made materials, business is booming. At the beginning of the pandemic, many manufacturers were nervous about what might happen with sales, but now they are having trouble finding the skilled laborers. Raw materials and goods from international destinations aren’t shipping fast enough to keep up with the soaring demand in the industry, right now. Kolodny admits, “Initial nervousness may have caused some of the problem because some of these orders for goods, from the Far East and from Europe, had been cancelled and then reordered in May/June when we realized that the industry was not going to have a downturn and rather an up-tick in demand. We’re now seeing a bubble in the demand for goods. Products are not making their way to the U.S. fast enough. Cargo ships are stacked up. Things just aren’t getting in quick enough and our suppliers are being challenged right now with getting goods to the market.” There is also a fun challenge that Kolodny sees happening in the next few years. He notes, “It’s about keeping all the people who purchased boats or canoes and kayaks interested and happy with their purchases after the pandemic. We want them to enjoy their experience, and continue the boating lifestyle for many years to come. That’s probably our biggest challenge going forward – to support those folks who have come into our industry and keep them energized and enthused about boating.”