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INDUSTRY NEWS www.BoatingIndustry.com April 2017 | Boating Industry | 13 Boating Partnership. "Michael has a great reputation through- out the national boating community, espe- cially in the marina industry," said CEO Bill Golden. "His knowledge and experience will be a great asset to our company and clients worldwide." North Light Yacht Club and Emerald Coast Marine merge, create Emerald Coast Marine Center North Light Yacht Club and Emerald Coast Marine announced a merger to form the Em- erald Coast Marine Center, The new com- pany is led by three boating industry veterans including Shawn Talpey, president & COO; Keri Doscher, vice president; and Jeff Orbin, vice president of marketing and development. "Our goal is to provide our clients with the most personalized, responsive and enjoyable boating experience possible, both oceanside and dockside," said Talpey, who founded Emerald Coast Marine with Doscher in 2015. Talpey and Doscher previously worked together for several years in senior manage- ment roles at Legendary Marine where they helped lead their former employer to become the Boating Industry Top 100 Dealer of the Year for two consecutive years, placing the company in the Top 100 Hall of Fame. Emerald Coast Marine leased space at North Light Yacht Center in the spring of 2016 to accommodate its new boat sales and service dealership. Conversations ensued the following winter to discuss the long-term benefits and opportunities of creating a joint partnership with North Light Yacht Club. Unique Pontoons introduces expandable, retractable pontoon Unique Pontoons exhibited its first show at the Minneapolis Boat Show Jan. 19-22. Unique Pontoons will focus on fulfilling or- ders from the show and gaining dealers in 2017, with plans to gear up for other shows in the Midwest next year. Unique Pontoons' model is an 8-foot- wide, 24-foot-long pontoon that can expand and retract. Its expandable and usable size is 11.5 feet wide, which offers a capacity of 16 passengers. The 8-foot-wide size allows boaters to trailer and tow the pontoon on the road at its maximum size. The expand/retract feature is achieved through limit switches and takes a total of 90 seconds to complete. Unique Pontoons offers two models: a trailer-less model and a model with a built- in trailer. When the pontoon is launched, the wheels begin to float; as the pontoon is expanding, the wheels and the trailer tongue both retract up and out of the water. The trailer-less model is built for boat- ers who launch once per season at a slip or lake home. Unique Pontoons are built with triple tubes for additional performance and sta- bility, with lifting strakes to get the boat on plane faster. Because the wheels are located outside of the tubes, the center tube makes up for the buoyancy displacement as well. Monterey Boats VP of manufacturing retiring After a 40+ year association with the boat- ing industry, the last 30 in marine manu- facturing, Mike Botti, vice president of manufacturing for Monterey Boats, has announced his retirement. He came to Monterey in 2002 as a Quality Management consultant. He soon took over the reins of its manufacturing operation and helped guide it through its greatest expansion. Monterey Boats' President Bobby Pita said that Botti's retirement will be a tremendous loss. "He has a real connection with all those he works with and garners respect within all lev- els of the organization," he said. "While I hate to see him go, I am also very happy for him. I wish him health and happiness in retirement." Botti said he is most proud of the experi- enced manufacturing leadership team and the talented boat builders he leaves behind. During retirement, Botti and his wife of 37 years plan to do some traveling and enjoy their grandchildren. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard Captains license with Master creden- tials and plans to stay connected with the marine industry. Botti will officially retire in May. Monterey Boats will immediately begin an external search for a vice president of manufacturing. Boatyard launches Boatyard for Business Boatyard recently announced the launch of Boatyard for Business, a SaaS platform that aims to provide marine professionals with user- friendly software to help them manage their businesses and deliver remarkable customer service experiences to their boat owners. Boatyard for Business allows marine pro- fessionals to manage requests, send digital quotes and invoices, communicate with cus- tomers and process payments. All of this is done from a dashboard available from their computer, tablet or mobile device. Boatyard is also working with its marine businesses to help them create their own custom menus within the Boatyard app, generating new leads and giving their customers the ability to order their services 24/7. "We built the app we wanted as boat- ers. Now we're launching the software we need as marine pros," said Nathan Heber, CEO of Boatyard. "We're excited for this next phase on our mission to deliver boater happiness on demand."