sept-2017

238 239 S kipperBud’s was founded by Bud Pretasky in 1959, in La Crosse,Wis- consin.“It was a small marina with a dry stack, selling small fishing boats with outboard engines, and slowly expand- ed from there,” says the company’s current President,Mike Pretasky Jr.,who took over the family business about ten years ago from brothers Bud,Dave, and Mike. Today, SkipperBud’s has expanded far beyond what Bud Pretaskymay have ever imagined over a half century ago.The com- pany has 14 sales/service/storage locations in four states–Wisconsin, Illinois,Ohio, and Michigan; two marina-only locations on Sturgeon Bay,Wisconsin; approximately330 employees; and $145,000,000 in 2016 boat sales.It also has a sister companycalled Silver Seas,with four locations on thewest coast of the U.S.–SanDiego,Newport Beach and Sau- salito,California,and Seattle,Washington. “Our structure is to be an all-around boat dealer; somebodywho can handle small boats up to large yachts,”says Pretasky.“We’re also verybig in the service area,storage,and parts business.Alot of boat dealers,it’s all about boat sales; we lookat every area,we do every- thing.We have people who specialize in small boats; we have people who specialize in large boats; we can paint and deliver a 70-foot boat or we can deliver a 16-foot fishing boat.All our employees are trained in different ways and we want to be the one- stop-shop for everybody,whether it’s selling SKIPPERBUD’S FAMILY-OWNED, FAMILY-ORIENTED