GLIN==> Wisconsin Marina Association Formally Created

Press Release
For release: 4.13.09


Contact: Jon Kukuk, Wisconsin Marina Assn. Chair, 715.732.4466
   Kae DonLevy, Media Contact, 414.588.0617
   info at wisconsinharbortowns.org<mailto:info at wisconsinharbortowns.org>


Wisconsin Marina Association Formally Created


Wisconsin, April 2009.   For the past several years Wisconsin marina operators have been exploring the creation of a Wisconsin Marina Association.  Since 2007, a polling of interested marina operators brought together over 20 interested marinas early on in the process. Financial assistance in 2008 from the Wisconsin Department of Administration's Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and Wisconsin Harbor Towns Association (WHTA) has allowed this Association to become a reality in February 2009 with the election of the Board of Directors.

The Wisconsin Marina Association (WMA) will bring together like-minded owners and operators of marinas, boatyards, yacht clubs and public and private moorage basins. The Association will promote the ethical, educational, communicative and promotional advancement of the recreational boating industry in Wisconsin. Additionally, the Wisconsin Clean Marina Program, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, will be launched in summer 2009, as a voluntary program promoting environmentally sensitive facility management and boating practices.

Boating has a large economic impact in the Great Lakes region. A report by the Great Lakes Commission estimates that the 4.3 million recreational boats registered in the eight Great Lakes states generate nearly $16 billion in spending on boats and boating activities in a single year. That spending directly supports 107,000 jobs, a figure that grows to nearly a quarter million jobs when secondary impacts are taken into consideration. "This Association will be the beginning of great networking opportunities for marina operators in Wisconsin.  The industry stands only to gain by sharing ideas and successes", says Jon Kukuk, owner and operator of Nestegg Marine of Marinette and the new Chair of the WMA.

The WMA will be the voice of its members in working with government agencies, affiliated national and local organizations and national or local issues affecting recreational boating. U.S. Representative Steve Kagen, representing northeastern Wisconsin, believes, "the Wisconsin Marina Association will help our state live up to the meaning of its Ojibwe name, 'gathering of waters."' In doing so, it will help to improve our environment and our economy.  I congratulate their new association and look forward to working with them to help restore and conserve our state's waterways."
This Association is a collaborative effort with University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and WI Harbor Towns Association (WHTA). The WHTA will be releasing a new Wisconsin Harbor Town Travel Guide and BoatUS sponsored, Simple Solutions to Great Lakes Health Guide in April 2009 for tourists and boaters in an effort to strengthen these initiatives.

Wisconsin marina operators and other related industry professionals are encouraged to join the Wisconsin Marina Association.  Visit www.wisconsinharbortowns.org/wma<http://www.wisconsinharbortowns.org/wma> for more information.


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WHTA is a non-profit organization that promotes tourism of Wisconsin's Great Lakes harbor towns.

The Wisconsin Department of Administration's Wisconsin Coastal Management Program was established in 1978 under the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act to preserve, protect, and wisely use the resource of the Lake Michigan and Lake Superior coastline for this and future generations.

For Further Information about the WMA Contact:
Jack Culley, Treasurer
Manitowoc Marina
425 Maritime Drive, P.O. Box 993
Manitowoc, WI  54221
920.682.5117
jculley at manitowoc-marina.com


Jon Kukuk, Chair
Nestegg Marine
300 Wells Street, P.O. Box 405
Marinette, WI  54143
715.732.4466
jon at nesteggmarine.com

Visit www.wisconsinharbortowns.org/wma<http://www.wisconsinharbortowns.org/wma>


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