bertram31.com

This was in the local paper
http://www.news-press.com/article/A9/20 ... ionstories


Paul J
1973 B28 - PALADIN

My guess is given the economy, they didn't out grow their location they just got tired of the crap hole ghetto that is Miami.

Hopefully they will get some better layup guys with the move.

Could it be possible they didn't own the property and have been paying leases all these years? Out our way all our family run stores have been run out of business due to greedy leaseholders. Suddenly a lot of empty stores this year.

I would think that they could have cut a tax deal with Miami to keep them there.

I agree with Bruce. Looking for better digs and better workers. To think at one time they were mostly Cubans laying up those boats. Some of the best layups in the business way back then. I am not familiar with Brevard county, but if they need to pay more to compete with other firms in the area, and if the other firms are clean work enviornments, they are in trouble. Not many people around who want to lay up fiberglass.

From Lauderdale, go north....not south.
Not a fan of Miami....sad

Brevard County is home of Kennedy Space Center. The area they are considering is the old Sea Ray factory on the cross-over cannal between the ICW and Port Canaveral. This is where they used to make the big Sea Rays. With the Space Shuttle program ending and our illustrious leader killing the Constellation Program, the layoffs in the area have been high. There is a lot of incentives for employers to move/stay/expand in the county. Housing prices are very depressed as a result of folks just getting up and walking away because there's no space work. You should see all of the empty buildings and offices at KSC... it looks like a post appocolypitic world... people just left, desks, pictures, papers and stuff all right where they left them. It would be great if they moved into that plant. I think they would get good hard-working people who understand quality is job one and can be the difference in mission success.

Paul J
'73 B28 - PALADIN

they actually had good people at that Sea Ray factory

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/201 ... ext%7CHome

Bertam to announce tomorrow that manufacturing will move to the old sea ray factory in Merritt Island.

Glad to see a company employing Americans and not shipping jobs overseas !!

It's no secret anymore.... I'm totally psyched to have them here in town

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.d ... er-topnews

Sean,
Think we might be able to get some free help from them since we're local? I've already been asked by my wife and some friends if I'm planning to apply for a job. Answer... maybe. Getting tired of what I do and ready for a change.

Paul J
1973 B28 - PALADIN

Not sure what kind of free help you may mean... I'm just excited to have them here. Also I've done some structural modifications to that building when it was Sea Ray... So maybe I'll be in there again for Bertram. No doubt they'll need to change something around

“It is all in how it’s built,” said Mike Kukla, Bertram sales director. “We skimp on nothing.”

Hey Mike, tell us again how it is that you don't skimp on anything.

Errors are possible in all human endeavors. That will always be true, and none of us are immune

I don't buy that. Not from a company like Bertram who has been building boats for over 50 years that most of us grew up on and were built like tanks.

Human error is forgetting to tighten the prop nuts, human error is backing into the dock, human error is forgetting you drained the oil and started the engine.

Human error is not having the side of your boat peel away. That's called cutting corners, using inferior products, using unskilled labor all of which takes a conscience effort to do.

I'm thrilled for Brevard County. They need jobs, and I bet Bertram can find some good people up there. Not sure why they left Miami. Bertram bailed out on the Bertram/Hatteras shootout in the Bahamas this year. Not enough interest and marketing dollars are low I have heard. Also heard that if you want to order one you need to order direct out of Ferretti and that some of the long term brokers are given the shaft. Rumors? I don't know, but it's negative press. I wish them the best in Brevard; but I think they need to return to what got them their illustrious name in the first place. Hard core top notch quality fishing boats with great ride, built better than anything else. I did fish with a guy last weekend off Hope Town that captains a 57', he didn't say anything bad about it...

Steve,
unfortunately the demographic of hard core fisherman who's more concerned with quality over aesthetics, has gone the way of the doo doo bird. As they become too old or die off, they are being replaced by Johnny come wall street who's just looking to dump the load of cash he made investing day trading into something tangible.

While there's certainly nothing wrong with making money that way, a good many have no class.

I saw it the last 10 years in business. I grew up in boating. Boating was a lifestyle who's participants exuded a certain jenesequa.

Momma got more involved, contributed more of the coin and decided that a fishing machine need to be prettier and more comfortable.

I got a call one time to install a bidet on a recently purchased 60 Hatteras sportfish. I asked if it was going to be used for a water fountain. No, its for the wife.

I told him to get his testicles out of mommas pocket and tell her to _____ off and that I wasn't interested. It went all down hill from there.

Bruce wrote:unfortunately the demographic of hard core fisherman who's more concerned with quality over aesthetics, has gone the way of the doo doo bird.

Bruce let me edit this for you...

Bruce wrote:unfortunately the US consumer who's more concerned with quality over aesthetics, has gone the way of the doo doo bird.

Was in a multi million dollar 8,000 square foot new home recently. Moldings joints were terrible, kitchen draws didn't close properly the list goes on and on but heck you could control any electronic device in the house with a remote control, that is after the guy comes back to reprogram it.

Very impressive just don't look to close..

In another generation or two, the recognition of quality will be completely gone...and they won't care. You can't get upset about something you've never seen.

Walter K wrote:In another generation or two, the recognition of quality will be completely gone...and they won't care. You can't get upset about something you've never seen.

One of the most poignant posts ever made on this board.

Absolutely correct, Walter. All the high tech things that today's generation covet have at best, a 2 year operational life. Apple was genius in introducing the next general of all their hand held gadgets -- you will never see a broken 3 year old iPhone, because the Appleites want the new generation before it comes out.

They don't care at all about quality, is it the newest version is the mantra.

Tom

Ok guys, ok…
Quality is durable

Future generations will recognize, pursue and produce quality. What is also certain is that pursuit will reflect their priorities and not the present or past ones.

I've always used the following for any project I've been involved with;

Performance
Schedule
Budget

Pick two.

Years ago, some demanding programs would demand all three.

Nowadays, it is usually schedule and budget.......sign o the times....

Price
Service
Quality
Pick two!

Hung on the wall in my shop. Customers ask for too much, point at the sign.
They ask for all three . . .they can't afford me.

weeell hooookay then...... all curmudgeon type comments ingested and noted....... and I will just say this. We are all quite happy here to have Bertram in town. Seeing one after another Space Shuttle get flown out of here has had a terrible effect on local morale. So having some new great big white vehicles is a good thing. Don't care if they float, fly, or even if one of them peeled once. Sometimes a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. Other than that, I'll refer back to and stand by my original comment: none of us are immune.

Walter K wrote:In another generation or two, the recognition of quality will be completely gone...and they won't care. You can't get upset about something you've never seen.

And that really was a great comment

My wife and I like watching American Pickers ( http://www.history.com/shows/american-pickers ) and American Restoration ( http://www.history.com/shows/american-restoration ). It's amazing to see the way things used to be made. What quality. The fact that you can take a piece of equipment that has been uncared for and sitting around for decades and clean and repair it to working order says a lot for how things used to be done. Imagine doing that with things made in 2012.

Paul J
1973 - B28 PALADIN