Boating Industry

November 2016

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www.BoatingIndustry.com 20 | Boating Industry | November 2016 BY JONATHAN SWEET E arlier this year, the Iconic Marine Group announced plans to re- structure several boat brands, in- cluding Baja Marine, Donzi, Donzi Classic, Fountain Powerboats and Pro-Line. Joe Curran, former managing partner at Crest Marine, has been named COO of IMG, based in the Washington, N.C., facility. Curran was part of the team that relaunched the Crest pontoon brand in 2010 before leaving the company in 2014. Curran has worked for a number of other brands during a 30-year career, including Brunswick, Wellcraft and Chris-Craft. The Iconic brands have been through a series of mergers and changes in ownership and leadership since the recession. We talked to Curran about Iconic's plans for the brands, what brought him back to the industry and more. Boating Industry: When you look at what's happened over the last several years, there's really been a lot of turmoil for these brands. With that in mind, how do you rebuild confidence and relaunch these brands? CURRAN: It's a complex situation because you have a historic past for all these brands, and I think [with] brands like Baja and Donzi, especially, they're all brands that the consumer is extremely passionate about. We've got a great facility here in Washington, N.C., that was originally the Fountain plant and we've got a great team in place to start the growth period. So we've got experienced boat builders, No. 1, and we've got experienced manag- ers, No. 2. … We've got a facility that is one of the best in the boat business. … It's a very unique place. We're not landlocked. It's a cool place to work. … It's about the future. It's not about the past six years for this company right now. I'm going to enjoy this project. I've been around this business for 30 years. … There are some projects where it's worth going 24/7 and this is one of them. It's exciting to be part of this group. Boating Industry: What are your plans for the specific brands going forward? CURRAN: There is a tremendous invest- ment to be made … in product develop- ment across all brands, frankly. We will be with Joe Curran, COO, Iconic Marine Group "It's about the future. It's not about the past six years for this company right now. I'm going to enjoy this project."

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