Freedom Boat Club Hosts Largest Franchise Conference in Its History

Freedom Boat Club, a division of Brunswick Corporation, has just completed the largest franchise conference in the company’s 30-year history and its first since being acquired by Brunswick. The theme of the event, Expanding Horizons, celebrated three decades of success with a recognition of the more than 200 locations and a focus on future growth.

During the conference, franchisees were presented with the opportunity to engage with leading boat brands and models from Boston Whaler, Sea Ray, Bayliner, Cypress Cay and more – all powered by Mercury Marine’s outboard engines. In addition to testing new product, the Freedom franchisees were able to participate in a range of strategy sessions presented by Brunswick and Freedom teams about operations, sales, product knowledge and communications. The conference culminated in an 80’s themed award ceremony where many franchisees were presented awards based on performance and contributions over the past year, including Franchise of the Year awarded to Dan and Jennifer Hasbrouck from San Diego. Other award recipients included:

    • Guardian of Reciprocity – Freedom Boat Club Gulf Coast, Russell Atkinson
    • Rookie of the Year – Freedom Boat Club of Point Pleasant, NJ, Matt Carrick and Matt O’Connor
    • Highest Percentage of Revenue Increase – Freedom Boat Club of Delaware, Tom, Bev and Josh Rosella
    • Territory Expansion – Freedom Boat Club of Tampa Bay, Glenn Berghoffen and Lisa Reho
    • Membership Executive of the Year – Dustin Tidwell, Freedom Boat Club of the Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast
    • Pacesetter Club Award (Given to clubs who meet specific financial benchmarks)
    • Freedom Boat Club of Delaware and Sommers Point, NJ – Tom, Bev and Josh Rosella
    • Freedom Boat Club of Lake Lewisville – Dallas, Scott Isaacks, Sue Wallace, Bill Marquardt, John Foster
    • Freedom Boat Club of Northern Virginia – Brent Parker
    • Freedom Boat Club of Seattle – Nick Hooge
    • Freedom Boat Club of Tacoma – Shawn Ottenbreit
    • Freedom Boat Club of Maine – Steve Arnold
    • Freedom Boat Club of the Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast – Dan Lund
    • Freedom Boat Club of Huntington Beach and LA – Andrew Hard
    • Freedom Boat Club of Tampa Bay – Glenn Berghoffen and Lisa Reho
    • Freedom Boat Club of Hilton Head – Cassius Mullen and Gayle Schaffner
    • Freedom Boat Club of Lake Norman and Lake Wiley – Perry, Nancy, Jeff and Deanne Weir
    • Marketing National Brand Champion – Tracy Coughlin of Freedom Boat Club of Maine
    • Marketer of the Year – Shawn Ottenbreit of Freedom Boat Club of Tacoma

Now serving more than 40,000 members around the United States, Canada and Europe, Freedom Boat Club has earned national awards including the top spot from Entrepreneur magazine in the Misc. Recreational Business Category for the second year and No. 270 in the overall 2019 Franchise 500® list.  In addition, Freedom Boat Club was just named to Inc. Magazine 5000 list and surpassed its 200th location in September.

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