With 301 miles of coastline, 1,500 lakes over 10 acres,
and many more miles
of waterfront on sounds, bays
and rivers, NC is a place where boats are a
big part of
life—for transportation (we have the second largest
ferry system
in the US), work and for fun. “Carolina
boat” builders maintain a tradition
that is as old as the
State itself. Particularly, Carolina offshore fishing boats
are known for their beautiful designs and rugged
reliability. Today, over
30,000 North Carolinians make
everything from kayaks to luxury yachts
and have built
an impressive supplier base to support both the builders and
recreational users.
BOATBUILDING ASSESTS
NC’s Southeast is home to:
• 13 of the state’s 100 boat building companies
• 265 of the state’s 1,290 suppliers to the industry
• 72 of 444 marinas
• 105 of 502 boat sales outlets
• 9 of 42 haulout boatyards
According to the National Marine Manufacturers
Association, approximately
705,000 boats were sold in
the US in 2008. NC ranked 5th in the value of
boats,
motors and accessories sold with $504 million out of
$11.2 billion.
However, we rank only 11th in number of
boat registrations with 376 thousand
out of 12.9 million.
This difference reflects the state’s predominance in large
offshore boat building and sales.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
NC’s Community College System provides significant
support to the boat
building industry. The system’s
Small Business and Technology Development Center
provides focused services to the Marine Trades with
two specialists
and significant resources located on the
website www.ncwaterways.com.
The Boating Industry
Services include: supplier identification, regulatory
compliance assistance, job market resources, location
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assistance, business counseling, management
education, technology commercialization, export
financing assistance, market and research services,
customized employee
training, an industry newsletter
and a focused industry website.
Cape Fear Community College—within NC’s
Southeastern Region,
this community college in
Wilmington, provides the specialty training and
curriculum for the boat building and marine trades industry. They provide
both diploma and certificate
awards for two specific areas of the industry.
• Marine Technology—designed to prepare
individuals to use and
maintain sophisticated
equipment such as electronic navigation devices,
physical and chemical measuring instruments,
sampling devices, and
data acquisition and reduction
systems aboard ocean-going and
smaller vessels.
• Boatbuilding—prepares individuals for employment
in the boat
manufacturing and repair industry by
teaching skilled craftspeople to
create complex
shapes out of a wide variety of materials and
perform
mechanical repairs.
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