‘Chugging along’ as cargo traffic stays steady, unlike elsewhere
Officials at the Port of Providence say traffic there remains on par with historic levels and is actually growing, even as declining imports hurt other ports. The Gypsum Integrity, left, recently arrived with 45,000 tons of coal, which was unloaded within 24 hours.
Two Rhode Island shipbuilding companies have been awarded $2.6 million in federal stimulus money to make improvements at their shipyards.
Sailboat sales figures in June reported by broker members of YachtWorld.com indicate a slight improvement compared to numbers in May.
Sales of fiberglass boats in the popular lengths of 14 to 30 foot were down 35.8 percent in May compared to the same month in 2008 in the early reporting states.
North Dakota and South Dakota posted positive growth, while the Louisiana market stuck out of the pack with a single-digit decline of 2.6 percent.
Source: Soundings Trade Only
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3a6f72/marinas) has announced the addition of the "Marinas" report to their offering.
First Research is the leading industry intelligence company that helps sales teams perform faster and smarter, open doors, and close more deals. First Research performs the "heavy lifting" by synthesizing hundreds of sources into an easy to digest format that a sales person can consume very quickly to better understand a prospects business issues.
There's still a lot of product out there, though, and the 2010 models are on the way.
Supply and demand: It seems like a basic enough concept. But when dealers are expected to anticipate consumer behavior a season or even 12 months ahead, things can get tricky.
Sales of all fiberglass boats, including PWCs, were down 35.2 percent in April, according to data from Statistical Surveys.
These preliminary statistics include 30 early reporting states, which represent about 64 percent of the national market. Only states that currently provide weekly or monthly information are included in this summary. Percentage change is presented on a calendar year basis to reflect actual results. The Coast Guard Documented Vessels file was complete for the period.
Source: Soundings Trade Only
Indicators point to a fast-approaching end date: May 2009.
If you want a bone to pick--or an economic argument to have--it should be about when the current recession actually began. The National Bureau of Economic Research, the U.S.'s semi-official recession arbiter, says it started in December 2007. But real gross domestic product grew at a 1% annual rate from then through August 2008. That doesn't look like a recession to us.
Source: Forbes
The Small Business Administration has moved toward making more credit available to marine dealers by announcing an increase in the eligibility of its 7(a) guaranteed loans.
Starting this week, the SBA will adopt a change in its size standard for 7(a) loans, allowing a small business to qualify based on net worth and average income. The alternate size standard will temporarily replace the SBA's traditional size standard for 7(a) loans, which varied by industry.
Source: Soundings Trade Only
With unemployment hovering around 10.5 percent in Rhode Island, I traveled to the Ocean State in early April to attend the opening of the New England Saltwater Fishing Show, the largest in the region.
Given the difficult economy in the state, I wanted to gauge the crowd and the buying mood, and I wanted to apply some old-fashioned reporting to the cliché that anglers tend to "hang in there" better than other segments during tough times.
Source: Soundings Trade Only
Newport
Rhode Island Marine Trades Association
PO Box 7663
Warwick, RI 02886
Tel: 401-615-5419
Email: info [at] rimta.org