Nor-Tech Disguises Family Reunion As A Dealer Meeting

Last week in Cape Coral, Fla., a group of Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Powerboats dealers gathered for the company’s annual dealer meeting. They came from as close as Sarasota—the home of Erickson Marine—just 80 miles north, and as far as Toronto, Canada, some 1,500 miles to the northeast and the home of Double R Performance. They came from Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan and Massachusetts—and even just across the Sunshine State in Fort Lauderdale.

Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boat capped its 2024 dealer meeting as the presenting sponsor of the Fort Myers Offshore lunch run to Punta Gorda. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

They came to learn about more about Nor-Tech’s build process. They came to meet the company’s vendors such as paint-supplier PPG, Mercury Racing, Evolution Trailers and Seakeeper stabilization systems and better understand their products.

They came to share in candid-yet-productive discussions with Nor-Tech leadership—what needs improvement on the dealer side, what could be better on the manufacturer side. As Nor-Tech president Trond Schou and his team know, the manufacturer and dealer relationship only succeeds as a real partnership with open communication.

And perhaps most important, they came to bond.

Dealers Marvin Dufner and Chris Erickson shared a moment with longtime Nor-Tech salesman Terry Sobo (center) during the Top Golf outing.

“It might sound cliché, but we work so closely with the factory and the other dealers and the vendors that the Nor-Tech dealer meeting is like a family reunion,” explained Peter Roberts, who-co-owns Double R Performance with his brother, Raymond. “I love the camaraderie. I love the great accommodations, the setting and all the activities. But sharing this time with the team is the best.”

Michael Knoblock, the owner of Nor-Tech dealer American Custom Marine in Kimball, Mich., agreed.

“With all of the Nor-Tech dealers there, we get a chance to talk and compare notes with each other,” he said. “It’s great team-bonding. I also like that Nor-Tech brings in all of our vendor-partners. It gives us a chance to look at new products and ask questions about current products. “

Double R Performance co-owner Peter Roberts found himself In good company during the Nor-Tech event.

Added Bob Crow of the SoFlo Nor-Tech dealership across the state, “Without question, my favorite section was the vendors product training, updates and all the trade secrets they shared with us.”

Of course, the four-day meeting wasn’t all work, not even close. The Nor-Tech dealer family also came to party as only it can. And from Wednesday’s Top Golf outing to Thursday night’s banquet at the Westin to Friday night’s minor league baseball game excursion, that’s exactly what they did.

After the Thursday night banquet, the celebration moved to the bar at the Westin Cape Coral Resort, the host venue for the meeting. Within an hour or so, Florida Powerboat Club president Stu Jones lost his colorful Robert Graham. shirt, according to his wife, Jackie.

But “lost” is the wrong word.

“One of the Nor-Tech guys couldn’t stop telling me how much he loved my Robert Graham shirt,” said Jones, who came to the event with his wife, Jackie, to support Nor-Tech. “And everyone at the bar started chanting, ‘Shirt! Shirt! Shirt!’ So we traded shirts right there at the bar.

Captured here with his wife, Jackie, and speedonthewater.com’s Matt Trulio during the Thursday night banquet at the Westin, Stu Jones would part ways with his colorful shirt later that evening. Photos courtesy Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats.

Asked if he got something like a well-worn Nor-Tech polo for his fancy shirt, Jones laughed.

“No, I got a pretty nice black shirt dress shirt,” he said, then laughed again. “I don’t know if I’ll wear it or not, I probably won’t, but I’ll know he’ll wear mine. He loved it.”

The antics ran into the wee hours, as witnessed by the less-than-early start for the Friday morning lunch run to Cabbage Key. The plan departure time of 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. had morphed into noon by the time six Nor-Tech center consoles and the new outboard engine-powered 420 Monte Carlo sportboat left the docks.

“I feel like I’ve been here for a week already,” said one particularly groggy participant, who preferred to remain nameless. “Thank god we only do this once a year.”

Privately owned by the Hall family since 1976 and likely to remain that way for decades to come, Cabbage Key is home to a small restaurant with a big musical mystery. The late Jimmy Buffet used to perform and eat there, according to Ken Hall, who co-owns much of Cabbage Key with his brother, Rob. Following a visit to the island one year, Buffet invited the staff to his concert in Fort Myers.

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Scenes from Nor-Tech’s Friday lunch outing to Cabbage Key.

During the concert, Buffet reportedly dedicated one of his new songs to the Cabbage Key staff. That song was “Cheeseburger In Paradise.”

Many of folks on hand that night left the show believing the song was written about Cabbage Key. But the assumption could well be wrong—even Buffet alluded to different locations that inspired the tune during years.

But that doesn’t matter, at least to Ken Hall, whose father, Rob Hall, Sr., died the week before the Nor-Tech event.

“I think Jimmy Buffet wrote it about a lot of places,” said Hall. “But I definitely think he was Inspired by his experiences at Cabbage Key.”

An avid powerboat fan, Hall described Nor-Tech as “ the No. 1 performance-boat company that comes to the island. “I would love to have a Nor-tech,” he said. “I just need to sell more cheeseburgers.”

Though the business end of the dealer meeting finished with Friday’s morning meetings and was followed by a trek to a local minor league baseball game, the Nor-Tech crew and several of its dealers vendors participated in the Saturday Fort Myers Offshore lunch run to the Riviera Bar and Grill in Punta Gorda. That made senses as Nor-Tech the event’s presenting sponsors.

With support from its dealers and vendors, Nor-Tech donated $5,000 to the Fort Myers Offshore scholarship fund. Earlier in the week, Nor-Tech and its dealers and vendors also contributed $10,000 to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Florida.

Started eight years ago, Nor-Tech’s annual dealer meeting has always be hosted at the Westin Cape Coral Resort.

The Saturday lunch outing was the perfect end to the 2024 meeting.

“It is very rewarding to take our partners and vendors out on a boat ride so they can see what their products do for Nor-Tech,” Schou explained. “It’s one thing to just sell parts to us but it’s another thing to experience them live on our boats—and several joined us for the Fort Myers Offshore season finale on Saturday. We even had numerous clients come along, which really made for a nice group and afternoon on the water.

“This was our eighth annual dealer meeting and they’ve all been hosted as the Westin, our Cape Coral gem,” he continued. “I truly feel this was our best dealer meeting yet. The schedule was jammed-packed with learning opportunities, but in true Nor-Tech fashion there was plenty of time for mingling and social events. That’s so important and necessary to bond the team together even stronger. I think we all experienced that family feeling.”