NorCal Marine Association OKs Merger with NMMA

Byline: Taylor Hill

OAKLAND — Northern California Marine Association (NCMA) members voted in favor of a merger with the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), finalizing the plan for the struggling boat show producer and regional trade association to join forces with a national marine industry powerhouse.

The move will integrate NCMA’s assets and its membership base into NMMA, which the group hopes will bring a better financial future to its Northern California boat shows and the local marine industry.

Over the past few years, NCMA has run into financial hardship, deciding to suspend some of its boat shows during that time.             NCMA board member Gary Clausen said the announcement of a finalized merger was put on hold until the proxy vote was counted for NCMA members who were not able to attend the Dec. 18 meeting in Oakland.

For the merger to go forward, the board needed to get a “yes” vote from more than 50 percent of the 72-member group. Clausen said it took a final tally of the proxy vote to reach that number, but he added that every single member who did vote approved of the merger.

According to a December statement from the organization, the merger will allow the group to focus on producing boat shows in the Northern California region, and it will increase NCMA membership benefits through its association with the larger NMMA.