EDGEWATER, Fla. — On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Edgewater to help Brunswick Boat Group open its brand new fiberglass boat technology center.
1) Innovation
The 45,000 square foot facility will house the most extensive recreational boat design and technology center in the United States, according to Brunswick.
“Our mission is to design, engineer, and launch the most innovative products in the marine industry for the best brands in the marine industry,” said Lenn Scholz, Vice President of Product Development for Brunswick.
2) Job Growth
Brunswick aimed to assemble the industry's most formidable boat product development team, which required them to do a lot of hiring. Right now, the new team sits at about 160 people.
“Over the past year here on the Edgewater campus we’ve hired more than 70 high skilled individuals in all aspects of product development design, engineering, management, skilled trades, people that build our tooling, build our boats, do the testing," said Scholz.
3) Location
When picking where they wanted to build this high tech center, Boston Whaler's campus that has been in Edgewater for many years seemed like the best fit.
"The people that live by here are experts in boat building and we have a long history here at Boston Whaler, so it was an obvious choice. Hey, if we are going to build a tech center that is going to focus more around fiberglass technology, there’s no better place in the world to have this then in Volusia County," said Nick Stickler, President of Boston Whaler, one of Brunswick's brands.
4) Making Amends
Sea Ray, one of Brunswick's brands, shut down its Palm Coast operations last year due to consolidation. That cost hundreds their jobs. However, Brunswick management said some of those people have now been rehired here.
When DeSantis was asked if he felt this made up for the job losses last year, he said, “Probably not for those people. I mean obviously that’s their thing, so these are decisions obviously made outside our per-view of government, but I do think this area here is a great place for this industry, and I think Volusia County has done a great job, and I just think it’s a good place to be.”
5) Even More Hiring
Brunswick plans to hire even more employees at the Edgewater-based tech center.
“Based on our current strategic plan, we could see hiring potentially 40 to 50 more individuals,” said Schulz.