Prior Newsletters

April 2005 - NC Marine TradeWinds Newsletter

SBTDC NC Marine Trades Services - Mike Bradley, Editor

Power Washing – Not a Quick Fix for NC Boatyards and Marinas

There is good news and expected news. The NC Division of Water Quality will definitely be requiring power wash facilities to address the problem of contamination from power wash water. This means minimally that facilities will have to figure out ways to capture and contain the wash water. It does appear that there may be reasonable methods to separate water and contaminates. Credit goes to David Flagler and Dr. Fred Yost of Carteret Community College; Ed Beck, Wes Hare and others of the NC DWQ, and Mike Lopazanski of DENR/CAMA for working on affordable business solutions. There are chemistry questions, testing issues, site specific criteria, and much more to solve before there will be definitive answers, but good effort is being made and we will keep you informed.

NMMA American Boating Congress – Strong NC Participation Expected

Representative Mike McIntyre (D-NC) has been selected to receive NMMA's Admiral's Circle Award at the 2005 American Boating Congress (www.nmma.org/abc/). The Admiral's Circle Award for recreational boating is presented annually in appreciation and recognition of leadership, commitment, and efforts on behalf of the recreational boating industry. Issues to be addressed include: Recreational Marine Employment Act; Boating Access and Boating Safety; Endangered Species Act; Business Activity Tax Simplification Act (BATSA); Counterfeiting & Intellectual Property Rights; Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; and Hull-splashing legislation.

Selling to Military and Government Agencies – Real Success Stories

Out SBTDC “sister” program, PTAC (Procurement Technical Assistance Center), has had a banner year helping over 2200 NC businesses sell a whopping $1.115 billion dollars in product and services to military and government agencies. This total dollar figure equates to 30,771 jobs created. Funded by the US Department of Defense, our professionals can help your company identify opportunities and assist you with product sales, maintenance and marine construction opportunities. Visit www.sbtdc.org/services/gov_procurement.asp or call Tom Elam in our Raleigh office (919) 715-7272.

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Dredging

News updates are daily. The best overview to date is found in a report called “Demystifying the Southern Inlet System Dredging Crisis” written for the Island Review magazine and found at this site: www.protectthebeach.com/newsletters/2005/May05.pdf.  One of the best ways to keep up with this topic is to subscribe to the e-newsletter put out by Rudi Rudolph of the Carteret County Shore Protection Office (rudi@co.carteretcountygov.org). Regarding Oregon Inlet, Legislative and Congressional leaders - state Sen. Marc Basnight, U.S. Senators Dole and Burr, and U.S. Rep. Walter Jones are promising to seek more permanent solutions for funding. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it will provide $500,000 in additional funding for dredging which will allow operations to continue for another 30 days. Dismal Swamp money is still needed for the operation of locks & waterway for boating and an additional $600,000 is being sought.

USCG Boat Building Factory Visit Program Likely To Continue

The U.S. Coast Guard published its annual accounting of the $5 million that comes from the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century to carry out the national recreational boating safety program.  $1.8 million has been earmarked for the factory visit program.

IBEX Prep for NC Exhibitors

Over thirty NC companies were exhibitors at the 2004 IBEX, and several more are expected for the October 19-21 event this year. Now is the time for these companies to plan marketing strategies and mail initial promo pieces to established and potential customers – especially NC business representatives likely to be attending. We will help NC companies with strategies, planning and marketing, but you have to request assistance. Contact Mike Bradley or Jack Morrow by email or phone if you don’t have email. Contact information link on www.NCwaterways.com homepage.

2005/2006 NC Coastal Boating Guide – Being Printed Now

Unanticipated printing delays may have kept the new NC Department of Transportation map and boating guide out of the hands of the 2005 annual migrating spring boaters, but expect shipments to your coastal marina and boatyard soon. For further information, contact the state’s DOT toll free line: 877-368-4968.

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NC DOT Eliminates Collection of NC Boating Tourism Data

Since 2001, www.NCwaterways.com and www.NCcoastalguide.com have collected over 85,000 highly detailed visitor profiles of web visitors requesting NC Coastal Boating Guides. These individuals have provided address, travel plans, boating use, and coastal activity participation information – most of which has been forwarded to participating chambers, visitors centers, tourism boards, etc. The Public Affairs Department of the DOT has changed the map request criteria, and future map requests will no longer trigger these data request forms from these websites. Our web visitors will soon go directly to http://apps.dot.state.nc.us/quickfind/Maps/.

National Marina Day – August 13, 2005

Our SBTDC NC Marine Trades Services is one of this event’s national supporters and encourages marina participation and event planning. Marina Day is being promoted by the Association of Marina Industries (AMI) and is an annual nationwide celebration of the role America’s marinas play as gateways to boating and as stewards of the environment. Go to the following website for information: http://www.marinaassociation.org/nmd/home.cfm.

National Marina Economic Impact Study

The Association of Marina Industries (AMI) and the Recreational Marine Research Center (RMRC) recently kicked off their joint, national marina economic impact study. Partners joining AMI and the RMRC in this project include NMMA, the United States Coast Guard, Michigan Sea Grant, and the Great Lakes Commission. Brunswick Boat Group is a sponsor of this project. Over 2,800 marina operators across the country recently received emails directing them to www.marinaresearch.com. Marina operators who did not receive this email are greatly encouraged to visit www.marinaresearch.com and complete the survey as soon as possible. All marinas responding to the online survey will receive a free report of the study's findings after the survey is completed. For more information, contact Stephen Wakefield at swakefield@nmma.org.

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ADA Compliance Workshops to be Held in September

Our SBTDC Marine Trades Services and the Association of Marina Industries (AMI) in conjunction with the US Access Board will be offering a FREE training program for marina and other boating facility operators on the new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines.  The program fee and all costs will be paid by AMI and the US Access Board. The training programs will educate program participants about the new ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Recreational Marinas. We will schedule two workshops the week of September 5^th.

Jobs, Employees, Training and Economic Development

It is no secret that there is considerable interest from out-of-state companies regarding relocation to North Carolina. Nor is it news that there is concern from existing businesses that new companies may tax the employee pools at certain locations.  In response, there are aggressive efforts by the community college system in the form of marine trades training programs and by the North Carolina Business Committee for Education which supports efforts of the Futures for Kids program that connects students with the workforce needs of their home communities. The NC Department of Commerce is aware of the needs and concerns of the existing marine businesses and understands that there must be an employee pool to meet their expansion and new job creation requirements. All the issues are not resolved, but the direction and intent by the state to work for existing businesses is clearly on the right path.

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