oct-2017

152 153 old shed,right? Ramsey: “Wemoved from that location toMar- shallberg,North Carolina.We quicklyoutgrewit and we developed the Jarrett BayMarine Industrial Park, wherewe are today.We developed a 175-acre site. Our companyoperates on about 45 acres of that in a 135,000-square-foot building.Agood portion of the rest of the park,we sold off to other vendors.The ideawe had for this parkwas for us to become an anchor tenant and allowother industries to come in that were complementary; industries that might do marine electronics,or soft goods,rebuild engines,work on transmissions.The idea behind that was if you,as a boater,come to our park,you could talk to a single servicemanager,whether youwanted to rebuild your engine or repaint your boat,put a newtop on,get new electronics,or just have routinemaintenance done. The parkhas been a real success andmanypeople throughout the countryhave tried to duplicatewhat we’vemanaged to do here.We’ve been here 20 years, now,andwe’ve seen exponential growth,throughout; we currentlyoperatewith about 175 employees.” BVM: What characteristics differentiate a Jarrett Bay boat fromboats built byother companies? Ramsey: “Alot of boats are built on a production line. Andwhile they’re verynice boats,you,as a customer can’t say,‘I’d really like tomove the galleyover here’or, ‘I’d really like to add two refrigerators.’While theydo some customizing,it’s very limited.What we’re offer- ing is your ability to customize.Wemanufacture every door jamb,everydrawer,everycabinet,every sofa; any portion of that boat that is built ismanufactured on- site,and the components are installed here.It’s all put JARRETT BAY BOATWORKS together byour craftsmen. “We’re also offering the opportunity to use high-tech materials that are considerably lighter than those that are built on a production line.Being lighter helps our boats have increased speed,more fuel efficiency,and even the possibilityof a smaller engine to go the same speed.The thing that really sets us aside fromsome of our competitors is the amount of engineeringwe do on each and everyboat to ensure a boat’s performance beforewe ever start it.We knowwithin small percent- ages howfast the boat will go,howit’s going to float; we knowits fuel range. “So,wemanufacture extremelyhigh-end,all-custom boats for verydiscriminating customers.Most of our customers have owned numerous boats and they’re working towards building something that suits the way theyfish or their specificneeds.It’s likewatching a familygoing froma starter house,to amedium-grade house,and finallygraduating to a complete custom house that’s built around theway they live. BVM: Alot of boat companies suffered during the Great Recession.Howdid Jarrett Bay survive those times? Ramsey: “During the economicdownturn therewas great stress on our industry.We’ve been around long enough that we’ve seen a number of recessions.This