Not to start any rumors, but I just heard that Burger Boat Co. has shut its doors. Can anyone confirm this?
Absolutely NOT!!! I met with David & Katie Ross at the Miami Show on Thursday. We spoke at length on the subject, one which they, nor I, see any reason to issue a press release or public statement. Over the past few years, the Burger yard has expanded at such a rapid pace that David found himself in the enviable position of having so many new builds, he needed outside funding to bring them to fruition in a timely manner. Burger's order book is jammed. To meet the delivery dates requires additional labor and LOTS of materials to build multiple boats. About the same time he was getting quotes from banks to refinance for the future, an "angel" of sorts stepped in and offered David the resources without the red tape. This angel is a former Burger owner who also has a boat in build with the yard. I'm not at liberty to discuss the owner, but the investment is literally hobby money for this gentleman, who has no interest in micro managing the company. His primary reason for investment was having a sincere interest in the yard and the people at Burger. According to David, Burger has NEVER been in a stronger financial position than it is today... and he's putting it to good use. He's sending 80 Burger employees to a week long class on raising production efficiency. This is an expensive proposition that should amortize itself within the first build, thus putting Burger ahead of the game in the future. Additionally, Burger has now eliminated ALL of their outstanding debt and has more cash in the bank than ever before. The net result, in my eyes, is David has never been more relaxed and more confident in the future. Remember... he's completely resurrected a company, added huge capacity, substantially increased the size of their yachts and all the while... trying to keep the company in the black. This is not easily done in custom boat building, especially among serious worldwide competition from established yards who have NOT needed to revitalize their operations.
Oh dear, where are these rumours appearing from? I don't see why they would be shutting down after such success with the M V and other boats under their belt.
Glad its not true. Burger builds some great boats and I love the idea that they are sending midwest built boats all over the world.
We all need to ask ourselves what good comes from announcing a baseless rumor on the Internet? All it can do is cause harm - so what is the purpose? Burger is, and always has been a stalwart builder, now stronger than ever. Take every thing Carl said as true - and then some. Let's put this rumor to rest right now and stop all of this foolishness. Next thing you know, someone will try and say the Andrea Doria sunk!!
as a burger employee of over 14+ years I would have to say that the company is going through some major changes,we are changing production to meet the tight deadlines,we are adding more people,and we are building smarter,when we get all the right people in place I feel the company will run alot smoother,we have alot of big orders to fill over the next couple of years and the only way we can acomplish this is to work as one big smooth running machine,everyone needs to be on the same page from the top all the way down.as for the secret investor,well I'm sure everyone will find out soon. if you have any more questions I will do my best to keep you informed.
