“This business was started originally as a repair facility for aluminum pontoons,” Hemken said. Hemken said he flew in one weekend and restructured the entire business, “top to bottom,” and knew there was a need for fiberglass hulls in lieu of aluminum hulls. “ had a consulting practice at that time, and I was working with small businesses to turn them around, but I was in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area.”
Hemken’s brother and sister-in-law-who own a marine upholstery business that produces fabric for boat seat cushions-were supplying A&M Manufacturing but weren’t being paid. “A little over four years ago we were able to rescue a manufacturing business that was in Old Town,” said A&M CEO John Hemken.Īt the time, the 25-year-old aluminum pontoon boat repair company was in a dire financial situation.
A&M, which joined forces with StyleCraft Boats in Chiefland, produces fiberglass pontoon platforms and boats and plans on revitalizing the industry with its new designs and concepts. In October, A&M Manufacturing took over the 38-acre, 210,000-square-foot Marlow-Hunter building in Alachua after its sailboat production had dwindled over the last 15 years. It took a revamped boat-manufacturing company acquiring a near-empty Alachua sailboat factory to breathe new life into the site.
0 kommentar(er)
