‘It Went Just Crazy’: Winter Boat Sales Are Booming

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Amidst unprecedented job loss, one Minnesota industry is hiring in a big way — and it’s probably the last industry you would think of in the winter.

The boat industry is booming, and Jake Jacobson can attest. He’s general manager of Rapid Marine in Ham Lake.

“February and March it went downhill and we were kinda worried, and then all of a sudden in April, May, June, July, it went just crazy,” Jacobson said.

His store has been selling boats at the fastest rate ever, near and far.

“We have them from Georgia, Missouri, the East Coast,” he said.

(credit: CBS)

It seems being inside so much amidst the pandemic has made people really appreciate being outside.

“It’s a fun activity to get away with your family,” Jacobson said. “Like I say, we sell fun. We are very fortunate.”

And all those sales have a multi-layer effect, starting with a New York Mills facility that produces Minnesota boats by Lund and Crestliner. Dirk Hyde is president of Lund Boating Company.

“People are really embracing the boating and fishing aspect, and we are seeing that in every part of the U.S. and Canada,” Hyde said. “And all the boats being sold means more jobs.”

Lund is hiring for dozens of other positions because all of the extra play is putting more people back to work.

“The hope we have is that we could employ people who are looking for jobs to provide wealth, get people working,” he said.

Click here for more information on careers at Lund.