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The Glastron GTS187 is one of Rec Boat Holdings' new lines of jet boats. MOVER & SHAKER OF THE YEAR ROCH LAMBERT, PRESIDENT REC BOAT HOLDINGS / CADILLAC, MICH. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 Before Platinum Equity acquired the brands in 2010, they had suffered from a lack of investment as previous owner Genmar suffered financial problems and eventually bankruptcy. It's not Lambert's first time going through this process. Over a long career at Bombardier/BRP, he specialized in challenging jobs from rebuilding the company's Sea-Doo jet boat business to leading Evinrude through its acquisition by the company following the OMC bankruptcy. From making sure Rec Boat Holdings has the right controls in place to recognizing the need to have people he can trust in place around him, Lambert has applied many lessons learned from those experiences. "It was important to put a plan in place and stick with that game plan," Lambert said. "We did a great job of identifying our opportunities three years ago, and the progress we've made toward those goals has made us sustainably profitable today. We always want more, but we're in a very good place right now." One of the biggest challenges was rebuilding confidence in the brands, both internally and externally. From employees to dealers to suppliers, many people needed to be convinced that Four Winns, Glastron and the rest were going to survive. "It was difficult. They've gone down twice," he said. "After two bankruptcies, the dealers were pretty fed up with what was going on." From the beginning, communication was key, sharing the recovery plan with dealers, suppliers and associates. That plan focused on three pillars: fixing internal quality issues, improving the products and strengthening the dealer network. That message hasn't changed for the last three years by design. "I think this company has shown we are going to be consistent, we are going to be predictable and we are going to bring opportunities to the table to grow your business," Lambert said. Internally, the management team needed to rally employees around a recovery plan that might not always appear to make sense. "This is my third turnaround and experience has shown me that it's not as obvious to everybody what the end result is going to be as it is 16 | Boating Industry | October 2013 P14x20-BI13OCT-MoversRoch.indd 16 craft brand, but will now continue as the centerpiece of the Rec Boat Holdings jet boat strategy. With BRP's decision to shut down the SeaDoo sport boat division in 2012 and license its engine technology instead, Rec Boat Holdings saw an opportunity to grow. Combine that with – Roch Lambert, President his and others' experience with the Sea-Doo line and it was a natural fit, Lambert said. "It fit perfectly our criteria for expansion," he for me," Lambert said. "I told them, 'We're probsaid. "It complements what we do 100 percent, it ably going to make decisions for a while that will leverages our manufacturing capacity and capaseem really odd and maybe wrong in your eye. bility and it allows us to strengthen our network." I'm just asking you to trust.'" The jet boat rollout has excited both existing One area in desperate need of attention was dealers and those who have no relationship with product design. If Rec Boat Holdings was going other Rec Boat Holdings brands. to improve sales, keep its best dealers and attract "Dealers are calling because of the Scarab new partners, the long-neglected brands needed name, its brand equity," Lambert said. "The reto be revamped. sponse has been far beyond my expectations. "At the end of the day, the dealers rely on The requests we've had from people around the what we bring to the table to grow their busiworld for the product has been phenomenal." ness," Lambert said. "If we don't feed them good Finding new ways to grow, either through product … their growth opportunities are going acquisitions or new product launches, is an imto be limited." portant part of Rec Boat Holdings' plans, espeToward that end, Rec Boat Holdings has cially as the company's core sterndrive market invested millions in research and development continues to struggle. Lambert is expecting little over the last three years, rolling out more than growth in the sterndrive category, so the focus 30 new and revamped models across the brands is on gaining market share and expanding with for 2013 and 2014 alone. complementary segments. Most notably, Rec Boat Holdings has By embracing those challenges, Lamjumped into the jet boat market for 2014, inbert hopes he's leaving a lasting mark on Rec troducing a line of boats powered by BRP's Boat Holdings. Rotax engine technology. The first jet model, "My No. 1 passion is to Glastron's GT187, was rolled make everybody here a winout at the company's dealer ner," he said. "Someday if meetings in July. there's a legacy here, I'd like Most of the boats, though, people to say, 'When he will be under the relaunched showed up it was in bad shape Scarab brand. The Scarab name and when he left it was in great had been kept alive for the last » New and revamped Rec shape. We had a lot of fun and several years as a line of offshore Boat Holdings models in made it a success.'" fishing boats under the Well- "I enjoy coming to work and having to fight for survival every single day." 30+ 2013 and 2014 www.BoatingIndustry.com 9/5/13 11:37 AM