BRADENTON -- Tim Norwood is a glass half full kind of guy.
Take for instance his outlook on his race for Manatee County Commission last year: “I don’t feel that I lost, I just didn’t win,” Norwood says.
And just because he didn’t win, Norwood sees no reason he can’t fulfill his campaign promise to bring jobs to Manatee County.
A manufacturing engineer and architect, Norwood is working on starting his own boat factory in Manatee County. The 49-year-old Bayshore Gardens resident says it’s been a lifelong dream to have his own boat factory.
And he remains ambitious about his concept to build recreational boats despite the odds he is facing and the capital he will have to raise in a withered economy.
“My main focus for the county was to bring more companies into the county,” Norwood said. “I am still very passionate about getting people back to work. We can all sit around and bellyache about the condition of our economy and expect somebody else to do the work for us or we can get off our rear ends and do something.”
His startup -- to be named Row Norwood -- will focus on building high-end whitehall rowboats and crew boats. It’s a niche he sees doing well in Manatee County and creating 10 to 15 jobs in its first year.
“I’m thrilled about the Benderson Park development,” says Norwood. “These boats are for people that are looking for physical fitness and a workout rather than just a utility boat.”
The Great Recession delivered a gut punch to the marine industry.
Since 2005, the Marine Industries Association of South Florida estimates the state’s boating industry lost 55,000 jobs and experienced a $5 billion falloff from its $18 billion economic impact.
“For 2011, there’s cautious optimism about the recovery of the recreational marine industry” said Gordon Connell, director of association services at the Marine Industries Association of South Florida. “But it’s certainly not going to return to the 2005 and 2006 heights we had reached.”
The startup has significant strides to make to come to fruition. Norwood says he’s been meeting with investors and working on registration of the company he hopes to launch this summer.
“Everything’s still in the process right now,” Norwood said. “Just like everybody else, the startup capital is a big issue.”
In terms of his projected startup costs, Norwood answered: “It’d be nice to have half a million dollars in my hands right now.”
Norwood has spent a bulk of his career working in boat manufacturing plants in production, design and engineering for a number of builders including Heisley Marine, Tollycraft Yachts and Manta Catamaran.
Instead of the 30- to 80-foot yacht and boat projects he has worked on in his career, Row Norwood will go after those who want a more budget-friendly recreational boat.
In this economy, many entrepreneurs are going after niche markets in an effort to maximize their potential, says Joe Pfeiffer, a volunteer business counselor for Manasota SCORE, a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
“The whole reason market segmentation became popular is because it allows a business to refine their product to those particular needs in that market,” Pfeiffer said. “It makes the customers easier to locate and it enables business owners to build stronger relationships.”
