celebrate 50 years
Jim Wolf, the CEO of Avalon & Tahoe, considered the incredible journey the company has undergone and how much they’ve grown. As he reviewed the deep-rooted history of Avalon & Tahoe, he broke up the company’s time periods and labeled them as the Stone Age, the Iron Age, the Bronze Age, the Silver Age and finally their current Golden Age.
Let’s take a little walk through their history and see how they came to their Golden Age.
The Stone Age (1972 to 1984)
If you look back at early pontoon boats, you’ll see they mostly consisted of wood decks, a helm stand and some unsecured lawn furniture. Then don’t forget the 15 to 50 horsepower motor, portable gas tank and AM radio. It was a good time, but hardly a glamorous one.
Then once the early 80’s rolled around, the company changed its name to the Associated Recreational Products (ARP). At this point the company began expanding on its pontoon boat offerings and even added a houseboat to its lineup. It also produced a fiberglass sport boat for a few years in the 80’s.
“I would call it the Stone Age when I got here,” recalled John Cooney, Avalon & Tahoe’s lead product designer. “I was the first engineer here. They had no prints, no nothing for building. You could send two boats down the line and they could be totally different from one another. Since then, we’ve evolved into a world-class operation.”
“When I first started here, the company was called ARP Corporation and around 1990 it changed its name to Playbuoy Pontoons to better identify the products because we weren’t making paddleboats anymore,” added Brian Richardson, Avalon & Tahoe’s vice president of sales.
By the early 90’s, pontoon boats became Playbuoy’s primary focus. Then in 1994, they brought in the Tahoe brand to help grow their dealer network. At this point, Greg Knight and Richards single-handedly mailed out hordes of postcards asking dealers to carry their product and support what they knew was a company on the rise.
“My dad gave me a call one day and said they got this boat company out in Alma, Mich., that’s for sale,” described Wolf. “It was Playbuoy. He had talked my brothers and me into working with the Sawyer family and we collectively bought Playbuoy Pontoons back in the year 2000.”
From there the Wolf and Sawyer families began the turning of a good company into a world-class company. As Wolf gauged other products on the market, he focused on improving his own to meet and exceed industry standards.
“We went to our first boat show in Atlanta, Ga.,” recalled Duane Dinninger, Avalon & Tahoe’s president, “and when we left there Jim was disgruntled with our product in comparison to others on the market. Not that our product was bad at the time, but he could see there was a lot of innovation going on in the industry and we needed to up our game.”
Soon enough the company’s radical improvements began raising consumer demand. They improved their products’ console electronics, stereo capabilities and in-house furniture construction, and they offered new triple-tube pontoon boats.
Avalon received its first NMMA innovation award for the Ambassador in 2012. During this time period, their innovative designs continued to come to fruition and their brand awareness and good reputation gained momentum. Avalon was undoubtedly “on the map,” resting steadily among the top 10 brands across the entire pontoon market.
It now boasts complete in-house vertical integration which ensures unmatched craftsmanship and customer satisfaction. Their Waketoon is also one of the world’s first wake surfing pontoons, winning the company its second NMMA innovation recently.
This family-owned business is now the third largest pontoon manufacturer in the world and habitually achieves record sales. It’s also now one of the largest employers in central Michigan, crafting some of the most beautiful and sophisticated pontoons in the world.
“The growth is accelerating at this point,” pointed out Cooney. “What does that say about the people and methodology behind the whole business?”
“Our growth wasn’t overnight,” added J.J. Duddick, Avalon & Tahoe’s operations manager. “We’ve had steady and solid growth built on a steady foundation.”
Or course, Avalon & Tahoe’s quest for improved innovation, performance and style will never end, and they’ll doubtless see even greater success as they sail through their Golden Age.
“I think more important than the product itself is the culture and the team that we have here,” shared Wolf. “That’s what makes me most proud—the people here making this happen. I think in life we all go through peaks and valleys, and I’m most proud of helping people when they’re in that valley—helping them get out so they can thrive and be the best they can be.”
“Everybody here takes pride in what they do and that comes directly from the company culture that Jim and his team have created,” agreed Miranda Bigelow, Avalon & Tahoe’s marketing manager.
“Jim had a vision and the product has been enhanced and he created a better environment for everybody,” shared Richardson. “Everybody is happier, including myself.”
Now the company has reached its monumental achievement of 50 years and it’s clear they aren’t hitting the brakes any time soon. Their Golden Age will last from now until eternity.