Industry Initiatives

UMSA and its affiliates have consistently been leaders in promoting marine industry unity, strengthening its infrastructure, and resolving its underlying problems. The positions taken on the following issues are reflective of this leadership:

• Survival of Marine Suppliers - By fortifying the independent boat builders, the presence of a strong and diverse base of business is secured. By combining the resources of the suppliers with each other and with the UMMA builders through the formation of UMSA (United Marine Suppliers Association), both groups are strengthened.

• Survival of Independent Builders - We believe that the independent boat builders are a cornerstone of the marine industry. By making and keeping them more competitive, dealers and consumers have the availability of a greater diversity of products and suppliers have a broader range of potential customers.

• Survival of Independent Boat Retailers - Without healthy boat dealers, marine suppliers, and boat builders cannot survive. To ensure that the dealers of the UMMA boat builders remain viable, UMSA has joined UMMA in support of their dealers through the creation of UMRA (United Marine Retailers Association), to work in partnership with the rest of the "United" family.

• Trade Show Duplication - In order to protect the limited resources of the industry, UMSA and UMMA have joined in supporting an initiative to limit the number of competing trade shows.

• Government Relations - Because of the diversity of the marine industry, it continues to be very difficult to unite the various parties to offer a unified front in addressing issues of unwanted government intrusion. UMSA and UMMA have joined forces with NMMA (National Marine Manufacturers Association) to provide a vehicle to mobilize the Members of its related companies to challenge such initiatives. Because of the importance of this initiative, UMMA/UMSA have extended this service to all of the rest of the industry at no charge (See Government Relations Tab).

• Import/Export - The "United" companies have established a separate trading division, United Global Trading, which helps to import products and/or components for UMMA builders and UMSA suppliers. In addition, this entity helps facilitate the sales of builder and supplier products outside of North America.