Lake Of The Ozarks-Based DuraTek Boat Lifts Poised For Growth Behind St. Clair Family – Speed on the Water
Beginning two years ago with the purchase of manufacturer Galva-Hoist Boat Lifts in Camdenton, Mo., and local dealer Summerset Boat Lifts, Paxson St. Clair, son of former Cobalt Boats founder Pack St. Clair, along with his sons Pack and Cameron, set out to better the boat lift business, according to a recent press release. Part of the renowned marine family’s process of improving upon the company’s proven product line included a recent name change from Galva-Hoist Boat Lifts to DuraTek Boat Lifts as well as a focus on build quality, durability and technology enhancements.
The St. Clair family is eager to expand DuraTek Boat Lifts both nationally and locally at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.
Since rebranding Galva-Hoist to DuraTek and putting its own stamp on the business, the St. Clair family has high hopes for the new brand.
“I love the marine industry and the boat lift business,” said Paxson St. Clair, who serves as president of the company, while Pack is director of sales and his brother, Cameron, is the director retail sales at Summerset Boat Lifts. “I enjoyed 30 years of working with my father at Cobalt, and this is a great opportunity for me to work with my sons, Pack and Cameron.
“We are excited about the opportunity to grow a small business together,” he continued. “All we needed was to find the right product that we could help expand to a national scale and we found one with DuraTek. We see a lot of room for growth with this already-successful brand.”
In addition to his long service as president of Cobalt Boats, Paxson St. Clair was on the board of directors for HydroHoist Boat Lifts for more than five years, where he learned about and enjoyed the boat lift business. Coupled with his sons’ experience working and scaling dealerships, the family appears to be positioned to build on DuraTek’s proven reputation for strength and quality.
It’s also positioned well to capitalize on the company’s geographical placement, being that the popular Lake of the Ozarks is one of the largest freshwater boat lift markets in the world. The St. Clairs said they plan to build DuraTek into a national brand, by adding dealers, marinas and customers as they expand to lakes throughout the Midwest and South.
“With a proven product line already in place, we are working on a number of new ideas to further improve our lifts, including engineering for even greater durability and technology enhancements, hence the name ‘DuraTek’,” Pack St. Clair said. “DuraTek has strong market share at Lake of the Ozarks. In our short time of taking the brand nationally, we have seen market share gains on other lakes in Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee, and are confident in continued success in the region and across the country.”
Highly durable, resistant to corrosion and engineered to withstand the extreme rough-water conditions that can occur in the Lake of the Ozarks region, DuraTek Boat Lifts are available in two styles: the HD Series, with lifting capacities of 40,000 pounds and the HD-R Series, with lifting capacities of 10,000 pounds. DuraTek also offers three lifts for personal watercrafts including the PW-Single, PW-Double 106-inch and the PW-Double 130-inch.
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