When a Vermillion Bay boat manufacturer ceased production last year, Temagami Marine owner Andre Lamothe saw an opportunity.
Naden Boats had been manufactured in the northwestern community, west of Dryden, for 35 years. But it was having difficulty retaining employees who were enticed by the area's mines.
“I was a dealer for these boats so when I got the fax from them, saying that they wouldn't be producing any more, I thought this might be a good fit for us,” Lamothe said.
He bought Temagami Marine in 2007 and he had been searching for ways to provide year-round work for his seasonal staff.
“Naden Boats were well-known and they have a good reputation with tourist camps,” he said.
The owner agreed to sell and in December, 2011, transport trucks arrived from Vermillion Bay with equipment, and production started in February.
“That's when we started to build our own skills set,” Lamothe said.
The original designs of the Naden line, which has six models of aluminum riveted boats, won't be modified. A new company was established – Temagami Boat Manufacturing Inc. – which shares certain administration services with Temagami Marine.
“The original design is very good,” he said. “What we have done is changed the esthetics a bit, such as putting the aluminum trim on after the painting and not painting the rivets to give it a more distinctive look.”
The manufacturing process was modified to add consistency to the products and to tie in with Lamothe's environmental principles.
“We decided not to use a toxic automotive paint, which also uses a lot more energy in the process,” he said.
Instead, the boats are painted with a powder coating, which is a first in the industry. The aluminum is pretreated, painted with the powder, and then cured in an infrared oven. The only byproducts are water and carbon dioxide.
“After a lot of research, we developed our own recipes and the process uses 50 to 70 per cent less energy and has a smaller environmental footprint. In winter, we can heat the plant from the process heat,” Lamothe said.
As a result, the paint contains no acid and it is much tougher, making it more resistant to scratches and peeling. Even when the aluminum is bent, the paint doesn't crack nor peel.
The former manufacturer used wooden patterns and cut the aluminum pieces by hand. Currently, a new CNC machine is utilized to cut the pieces, which results in product consistency.
“Our target is to manufacture 1,000 boats a year,” he said. “And I want to get 75 dealers by Christmas. It used to be 25 to 35 dealers, but I really want to be coast to coast to coast. I want to be across the country and in the territories as well.”
Two agents cover the country east and west from Thunder Bay to develop a dealer network.
“Some dealers are new and others have been revived but we are marketing through our website and through shows, and reaching out to organizations like NOTO (Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario) since the company had a lot of sales with tourist camps,” Lamothe said.
The business has created about 13 new year-round, full-time jobs which were sourced locally.
“We picked our team and trained them and we are hiring for attitude because we want them to be proud of what they are doing,” he said. “I can't say enough about them.”
Future plans include entering the U.S. market in the northern states where fishing is popular, “but it's not on the immediate to-do list.”
