MRAA announces full support of American Boating Congress
Monday, January 30, 2012
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Posted by: Matt Gruhn
BOCA GRANDE, Fla. – The Marine Retailers
Association of the Americas announced today that it is responding to an
industrywide call for greater support of the American Boating Congress and will
not only host a full board meeting at this year’s event and attend the event as
one large group, but will also actively promote ABC to its members and
encourage their participation.
ABC, to be held in Washington, D.C., on April
24-25, 2012, is a comprehensive legislative conference that brings together
recreational boating industry leaders to discuss public policy, address members
of Congress and present a unified front on issues that impact the recreational
boating industry. One of the top-10, highest-ranked joint action proposals that
came out of the recent industry summit in Chicago was that ABC should be
expanded "to all boating segments, beyond manufacturers and get support and
attendance from all areas.
"If all industry players, associations, dealers,
came together,” the joint action proposal stated, "Congress would listen.”
"While individual MRAA board members and staff have
participated in ABC over the years, this year will be much different,” says
Matt Gruhn, president of the MRAA. "To show our support for the industry as
well as the results of the Summit, we simply decided that we would support the
event and everything it stands for as a united group and demonstrate to Congress,
as well as our industry colleagues, that our industry stands together. And I’m
proud to report that our board unanimously agreed to support this endeavor.”
As a co-host of ABC, MRAA will work closely with
the National Marine Manufacturers Association to build an agenda that discusses
state and federal regulatory issues affecting marine retailers. This agenda
will provide insight into the status of key federal legislation, updates from
experts on pending legislation, and first-hand knowledge as to the trends that
will affect the marine industry.
"It’s extremely important to our businesses, to be
aware of the issues and to fight for not only our own interests but also for
the interests of our customers,” says Dave Foulkrod, chairman of the MRAA. "In
our leadership position as the board for this national retailer association,
it’s critical that we take a lead role in supporting the efforts of the
American Boating Congress.”
MRAA will host a series of board meetings over the
two days leading up to ABC, and will engage both its full board of 19 members
and its Young Leaders Advisory Council, which includes 15 members, in the
support of ABC.
About
Marine Retailers Association of the Americas Celebrating its 40th anniversary in
2012, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas is the only North
American association dedicated to furthering the interests of boat and engine
dealers and other marine-related retailers throughout North America. Under the
umbrella of MRAA Rewards, the MRAA offers a host of cost-saving,
revenue-generating, business-improvement, and professional-development benefits
exclusively for its members. For more information, visit www.MRAA.com.
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