How to find boat registries for a marine business plan

Compiled by Juli Case

I’m applying for a loan, and the lender wants me to submit a business plan for my marine shop. How do I find out how many boats there are registered in New Jersey, so I can show them how many potential customers there are?

Boat owners are usually required to register with your state’s Department of Transportation (DOT). We contacted the New Jersey DOT and were told that you need to make this sort of request in writing. We weren’t sure if that would be timely enough for your bank loan, so we looked for other sources of information. Discover Boating is a public awareness effort managed by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), under the GrowBoating banner, on behalf of the North American recreational boating industry. They list the number of registered boats in New Jersey in 2007 as 183,147.

NMMA also has a more complete report, but it does need to be purchased. However, an older version from 2005 is available at their website at no charge, and that version lists the number of registered boats in New Jersey in 2005 as 199,106.

SOURCE GrowBoating

SOURCE National Marine Manufacturers Association

Juli Case is IFAI’s information and technical services manager.