Keeping Customers With Kindness

Newport Harbor Association in Cleveland, Ohio, is not a typical marina. It is a 501(c)(7) member-owned marina, where its boaters own their slips. Any decision must be approved by a board and sometimes by the general membership.

Being located in a small village comes with a host of rules and regulations that limit income-generating services and expansion. Per the rules, the marina cannot have gas docks or provide dockage or service to anyone who is not a member of the harbor. It has limited transient dockage and cannot expand beyond 117 slips.

Without typical means to generate revenue and attract customers, Newport Harbor has put its full focus on customer service and creating the best experience for its boaters, making the facility well deserving of the 2025 Marina of the Year Customer Service award.

“We have to find new ways to generate revenue and get things done,” said Jim Travarca, harbormaster for Newport Harbor Association. In his 15 years at the helm of the marina, he’s embraced customer service as a winning solution to attract and retain boaters and create a place where not only customers, but also employees love to be.

Building an Extended Family
Travarca is joined by his new assistant harbormaster, Grace Adkins, who has been in her current role for just more than one year. She started working at the marina mistakenly as she thought she was applying for a server role, but the work stuck, and she quickly moved up from dockhand to senior dockhand to her current position after graduating from The Ohio State University.

“The energy Jim brought and his infectious love of customer service made me realize after the first year that there was no doubt I’d be back. I loved my job and couldn’t get enough of it,” Adkins said.

From Travarca’s perspective, Adkins exemplifies his goal to make the job so enjoyable that his summer help returns each year and moves up the ranks. “He says, ‘I’m passionate about what I do, who I do it for, and who I do it with.’ Jim is amazingly generous with his time, knowledge and resources,” Adkins said.

“I still talk to staff members I had 15 years ago. I get invited to life events. They were and always will be my kids,” Travarca said. “They leave each year in mid-August to go to college, but many come back to help us over Labor Day because we’re their extended family, and they know how busy we are.”

The hardest part of instilling the value of customer service into employees is knowing that if the job is done right, no one knows it was done. Since the marina bans tipping, at the end of the year, the organization gives the members the opportunity to contribute funds for staff appreciation, with all proceeds going directly to the team. He said this fund entices many to return the next season.

Building a Better Experience
While he and Adkins lead by example on how to best work with customers, they make sure the team knows it’s important and how even jobs like clearing seaweed from the harbor or removing spiderwebs from pedestals are a form of customer service, so the boaters have a better experience. “Without the customers, we don’t have jobs, so we want to make the experience for them amazing,” Travarca said. “If they have a good experience, they’re more willing to pay fees and forgive hiccups.”

As a lifelong boater, he experienced poor customer service where no one was available to help on or off the dock, and that memory drives the service he now provides. “I know the value because I’ve driven a boat and had no help. I know that uncovering a boat when it’s hot and sticky is a hassle, so we offer that service,” he said. “Everything I do comes from the standpoint of what the customer wants.”

Before customers arrive, their boat is uncovered, and their coolers are filled with ice and water. When boaters arrive, staff pick them up in golf carts and drive them to their boat. Dockhands ensure the boat is safely launched, and they stand by to catch lines when the boat returns. Then they take the customer and their gear back to their car and finally cover up the boat.

“All they have to do on our property is relax and have fun,” Travarca said. “Anything our members need while they are here, we are here for them.”

As the needs and wants of boaters have changed, the marina has extended its service hours and has added more events and activities. Travarca said that having Adkins on board, as someone who started from the ground up, greatly adds to finding ways to improve. “She recognizes things that will work better for the team, which improves our entire operation. She now has a say in how we operate and is getting even better at doing what we do,” he said.

The marina has implemented a catering service and grocery delivery. Other added amenities will be more community events, like the Blessing of the Fleet, which the marina began in 2025. The marina administrators are also considering partnering with a charter service to come in so non-boat owners in the community can get on the water and be more engaged with the marina. They will also be creating new processes to better engage members, including a new website, social media outreach, and merchandising.

Travarca’s solution to how to compete when all you have to offer are boat slips has been to become a leader in customer service, ensuring all the boaters’ needs are met and exceeded, and to do it all with a smile.

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