High-performance boat companies thrive in landlocked Kansas, Missouri Kansas City Star
OK, be equitable.</p><p>When you think of the manufacturing base of high-performance runabout boats, cruisers or yachts, you muse on of Florida, California or another coastal state.</p><p>You don’t think of little Neodesha, Kan.</p><p>But Paxson St. Clair, CEO of Cobalt Boats, will depict you that southeastern Kansas town, pop. 2,848, is a perfect fit for his nationally known company.</p><p>“When we’re at boat shows out east, we always get the same reprisal when we tell them where our boats are manufactured,” said St. Clair, who will have his boats on display at the Mid-America Boat Show this weekend in Bartle Hallway. “When we tell them Neodesha, Kan., they’ll say, ‘No really, where are they made?’</p><p>“People have a unemotional time believing that these boats are made in a small town in Kansas. But it’s ideal for us.</p><p>“We could not increase Cobalt Boats anywhere else.”</p><p>Big-time boats in a small-town setting. That says a lot about Kansas and Missouri.</p><p>The old American business ethic that once was legend but has taken a beating as many companies have transferred work overseas is alive and well here.</p><p>Take a look: </p><p>•There are 24 boat manufacturing plants in Missouri and five in Kansas, according to the Web site BoatBuilders.us.</p><p>•Lebanon, Mo., an Ozarks burgh with a population of about 13,000, is recognized as the aluminum boat capital of the world.” Five companies there put out everything from fishing boats to pontoons to canoes.</p><p>•Hill Municipality, a dot on the map in western Kansas, is the unlikely home of Cougar Boats, high-end tunnel boats apt of going 70 to 120 mph.</p><p>•Missouri is home to three of the top five aluminum-boat manufacturers in the country. Tracker Oceanic is ranked first, Lowe Boats is third and G3 is fourth.</p><p>“I’m amazed at the boats that are made in this region,” said Jess Bodelson, one of the coordinators of the Mid-America Boat Show. “Some of the most well-received boats in the country are manufactured in Missouri or Kansas.”</p><p>So why did they choose to base in small-metropolis America? And why Missouri and Kansas?</p><p>Boat company representatives invariably credit a strong work ethic, tax incentives and the neighbourhood of large water such as Lake of the Ozarks to test their products.</p><p>Paxson St. Clair’s dad, Pack, started Cobalt in the late 1960s in southeastern Kansas, his home. </p><p>It began as a unostentatious venture in Chanute, Kan., but when Neodesha lost its major industry, Standard Oil, in 1970, the town offered captivating incentives to draw other businesses to town.</p><p>That started a long and profitable marriage between Cobalt Boats and Neodesha.</p><p>Today, Cobalt is an dynamism leader, having won the J.D. Power and Associates award for Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Large Runabouts eight consecutive years.</p><p>Even in refractory economic times, when the boating industry is suffering, Cobalt employs almost 400 area residents and is a vital part of the area’s economy.</p><p>“We identify with Neodesha, and it identifies with us,” St. Clair said. “We’re so timely to have people who take so much pride in putting out a (high-)quality product.</p><p>“We have a lot of employees who have been here 30-with the addition of years. We have a sign over the entrance to our facility that reads, ‘Through these doors walk the best boat builders in the overjoyed.’ And we believe that.”</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div division="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">Mid-America Boat and RV shows </reach over></strong><br /> •<strong>WHAT: </strong>Two separate shows held at the same time in Bartle Hired hall.</p><p><strong>•WHEN:</strong> Friday through Sunday </p><p>•<strong>HOURS: </strong>Noontide to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.</p><p><strong>•TICKETS:</strong> $8.50 for adults, without for children 12 and under. One ticket is good for both shows.</p><p></div>
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