SeaArk Boats, a long-time, family-owned company in Monticello known for aluminum catfish boats, will change hands to a Florida-based firm, the companies announced on Tuesday.
S̶a̶m̶ Sean* Marrero, c̶h̶i̶e̶f̶ ̶e̶x̶e̶c̶u̶t̶i̶v̶e̶ chief financial officer of Correct Craft, the company that bought SeaArk, said the acquisition will not affect the location of SeaArk or the current employees.
"We're not here to turn the company over," he said. "That's not the kind of investors we are."
Correct Craft is expanding as the recreational boating industry recovers after the recession, a time when large luxury items such as boats took a hit. Builders and dealers sold about 15,500 more boats, or an increase of 6.2 percent, in 2015 than they did the year before. That marks the fourth straight year of growth for the industry, according to data from market data firm Statistical Surveys Inc.
SeaArk will be Correct Craft's sixth division. The company bought another family-owned boat company in Arkansas -- Bass Cat Boats in Mountain Home -- about a year ago.
"Basically starting in the last three or four years, we've been out looking for companies with good values and strong teams to add to our collection of marine companies," Marrero said.
The purchase of SeaArk will allow Correct Craft to expand into a different market. This will be the first time Correct Craft has dealt in aluminum boats.
"Aluminum boats are known for being more rugged as it relates to being in shallow water or going in areas where there might be rocks," Marrero said. "It tends to be more freshwater fishing, catfishing or inland-type fishing."
SeaArk currently employs about 80 people in Arkansas, said Robin McClendon, the company's former owner. The boating industry directly employs about 7,500 people in Arkansas, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association.
"It was kind of the perfect marriage," she said. "We were not going to sell to someone who would move the company or drastically change the people."
McClendon has run SeaArk since 2002, and she oversaw the introduction of the catfish boat -- currently the company's signature product. McClendon's father and grandfather founded the company in 1958.
"After 58 years in the marine industry, it is a bitter-sweet decision for the McClendon family to exit the recreational boat building business," she said.
Southeast Arkansas, where Monticello is located, is one of the main catfish centers in the state. Arkansas, behind Mississippi and Louisiana, is the third largest catfish-producing state in the country, according to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Aquaculture and Fisheries Center.
The recreational fishing industry in Arkansas, which includes fishing for catfish, has an economic impact of more than $440 million a year, reported the Aquaculture and Fisheries Center.
"We learned to listen to what kinds of boats people were asking for," McClendon said. "The catfishing boat is what we came out with."
Business on 05/18/2016
*CORRECTION: Sean Marrero is chief financial officer of Correct Craft. This story incorrectly reported his first name and job title. SeaArk Boats and Correct Craft are not rivals. The headline of the story incorrectly described their relationship. And SeaArk catfish boats are not designed for use in fish farms.