The marine manufacturers’ trade association came early to the recognition that the boating public needs more comprehensive information about marinas that provide easy, safe access to boatable waters. For more than 10 years, NMMA has maintained a national inventory of existing marinas, the most comprehensive of its kind anywhere in the world. Currently, it lists more than 12,000 marinas across the United States. Conceived as a marketing tool, this computerized database quickly informs the user how many marinas there are from state to state, on which bodies of water, how to get in touch with them, and how many wet slips and/or dryland storage spaces they have to offer. Up-to-date analyses of the comparative size and regional distribution of marinas is provided, as well.

The NMMA marina inventory is a superior way to make certain your marina is counted; it’s good, free advertising, too! Make sure your facility is included in the inventory. Call the NMMA Marinas and Boat Access Division at (202) 721-1630, or fax (202) 721-1645.  

NMMA also keeps track of the number and location of boat launching ramps throughout the country. In cooperation with the States Organization for Boating Access (SOBA), the association maintains a national inventory of all public boat access sites built, renovated, or maintained by states with federal aid from the Wallop-Breaux Trust Fund. In addition, NMMA is at work bringing its database current with locations of private sector marinas that provide boat launching ramps so that trailered-boat operators have a wide array of options for getting out on the water.  

Reasoning that new and improved boating facilities make it more convenient for people to go boating, and a positive inducement to buy boats and associated equipment, NMMA does a great deal to promote marina development and expansion.  

The association publishes a portfolio of fact sheets as a marketing tool for marina owners and developers in presenting their building projects to government planning, zoning, and other permitting authorities. This publication emphasizes the point that marinas are economically significant, environmentally compatible, and an important asset to any community.  

Other NMMA publications include a quarterly newsletter on boating facilities development chronicling marina and boat ramp construction and expansion in leading boating market states. Also included in the newsletter are: a national directory of marina architects, engineers, and consultants; and bibliographies citing books, conference papers, studies, and other resources pertaining to planning, designing, financing, building, operating, and maintaining private and public sector recreational boating facilities.

Although the United States has more marinas than any other country in the world, and other popular boating market countries commonly look to our experience for technical advice on how to build and operate successful marinas, NMMA is open to new ideas from overseas. The problems marinas face are fairly common around the world, and it is always possible that American marinas can learn from solutions found in other countries. For that reason, NMMA is a principal player in international councils concerned with marinas. Last year, at Fort Lauderdale, the association hosted the latest in a series of continuing marina education conferences under the aegis of the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA). The conference attracted marina operators, consultants, equipment manufacturers, architects, and engineers from 22 countries to learn more about what it takes to successfully operate a marina in today’s environment.

The bottom line: Clearly there is a symbiotic relationship between marinas and the recreational marine manufacturing industry. Each needs the other for growth and economic success. It is essential that they work together. There are collective bodies for doing this locally in state and regional marine trade associations. NMMA and MOAA admirably serve that function for broader issues at the national level. I encourage individual marinas to join MOAA and work with NMMA. Call the NMMA Member Services Department at: (312) 946-6200.  

Ron Stone is a senior advisor with the National Marine Manufacturers Association and chairman of the ICOMIA Boating Facilities Committee. He served as NMMA’s director of facilities and government relations for more than four decades. He is the founder of the States Organization for Boating Access.