US boat brands consolidate to North Carolina

by Media Services on 23 Nov 2010 The owner of Donzi Marine and Pro-Line Boats is consolidating three brands of fishing and speed boats at its North Carolina plant to cut costs and streamline production.

Liberty Associates LC owns all three brands after acquiring the assets of Fountain Powerboat Industries during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization earlier this year.

Production of these brands will move into the site in the Beaufort County city of Washington, where Fountain Powerboats have been manufactured. The decision could create around 410 jobs over five years at the Fountain plant on the Pamlico River.

Hundreds of former Fountain workers are looking for work. The company now employs 75 full-time employees, down from a peak of more than 450.

Fountain Powerboats filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2009. It had announced plans in mid-2008 to add 250 jobs over five years with the help of a state grant of as much as US$12 million.

The consolidation is the second in four months for a well-known boat builder relocating to North Carolina.

Brunswick Corp. said in July it plans to close its Cabo Yachts plant in Adelanto, California by the end of 2010 and move production to its Hatteras Yachts factory in New Bern. The move was forecast to expand the work force of 280 by about 350 jobs within five years.