I have mentioned in previous newsletters that the best part of my job is delivering member dividend checks in March. I have also said the second-best part of my job is going to and touring MTM member’s facilities. One MTMIC member that makes a particularly interesting product is Avalon & Tahoe.
You probably have heard the name before, but if not, they build pontoon boats. Before my tour, my image of a pontoon boat was anything but sleek, plush, and cool. My tour was arranged by Avalon & Tahoe’s CFO, Barry Kavanagh. Mr. Kavanagh handed me over to their plant Operations Manager, JJ Dudick. This tour changed my vision completely. Before getting to that, let me tell you what their brochure says, and now with the tour knowledge in hand I can say these statements are very accurate.
Avalon & Tahoe: The finest pontoon boats manufactured in the U.S. Since 1972, Tahoe pontoons has created the finest pontoon boats made in the USA. Our commitment to excellence and design, construction, and service have made us an industry leader. We use innovative design from our exclusive technology to create great looking boats that are both durable and high performance. We invest in the best water based and computer aided design and manufacturing tools available to create pontoon boats with accurate dimensions and precise furniture patterns, exact aluminum sizing, and a smoother finish. We have mastered our design techniques for over 45 years in this business.
Impeccable construction; our expert manufacturing team creates every pontoon boat in our own facility, ensuring the highest quality construction every time. Our experienced, in-house team of welders, furniture makers, assemblers, and quality assurance engineers are committed to making your pontoon boat perfect. When other pontoon boat companies are outsourcing their processes, we are perfecting ours.
My tour started in the pontoon forming and welding area. This process by itself is fascinating to watch. We then moved to the floor section, then onto electrical, seat, upholstery, final finish and inspection. The final product at the end of this chain of construction is amazing. Unfortunately, at the end of the production line there were too many employees around for me to accidentally hook a boat trailer to my car to take home.
There are a couple other cool things about Avalon & Tahoe:
The safety consciousness of the CEO and his management team is amazing. They welcome the MTM loss control inspection to help them see things that they might not see. The results of our safety inspection verify the safety culture of the company.
The CEO, Mr. Wolf has a great job. To make sure his product meets the standards he desires, he frequently takes his products on long distance pontoon excursions. These are not slow cruising day-trips. By way of example a few of these trips have included; Baltimore to Key West in November of 2004 (1,170 miles), Chicago to Mackinaw Island in August of 2005 (450 miles), Fort Lauderdale to Bimini Island in January of 2006 (150 miles), Key West to the Dry Tortugas in October 2009 (160 miles), Los Angeles to Catalina to San Diego in December of 2014 and Clearwater to Cuba to Marco Island in June of 2017 (580 miles). As I said, these are not casual cruising sun bathing trips. These are trips made in the open ocean and often exceeding 50 mph. Who knew that a pontoon boat could go more than 50 mph in the ocean? Wow!
MTM is proud to support Avalon & Tahoe, and we pass on our congratulations for their company’s success. Lastly, like a good partner, I probably should join Mr. Wolf on one of his next Avalon & Tahoe boat trips just to make sure that all loss control protocols are being followed.
