Boat distributor anchors dealers

LOVELAND — Roger Pilant knows boats.

As a manufacturer’s representative for the well-known Larson and Glastron brands, Pilant helps more than 50 dealers across 14 Western states stay afloat.

Pilant founded Anchor Distributing 17 years ago and has 26 years of experience in the business.

“When I first got started I didn’t have the opportunity to represent a great manufacturer,” he said. But with continuous aggressive marketing and a slick sales staff, he worked his way into what he calls “the right market areas with the right dealers.”

Glastron and Larson are just two of the boat brands owned by Genmar, the world’s largest recreational boat builder with 17 brand names.

Pilant got into the Glastron and Larson lines more than a decade ago when the Western territory was a $3 million market.

“We’re forecasting $36 million for the 2003 model year,” he said.

Anchor Distributing started in Denver, but two years ago, Pilant moved the business to the Fort Collins/Loveland airport. He recently purchased two acres with taxi access for a 7,200-square-foot headquarters, replete with office and warehouse space, and a hangar for the company plane. Manufacturers’ representatives travel a lot. With boat shows to attend, sales seminars to conduct and dealers spread across the country, Pilant prefers to pilot his own plane. “There’s no property at Jeffco Airport, and that’s a big reason why we moved here,” he said.

Some might shudder at the prospect of selling boats in Colorado in the middle of a 100-year drought, but Pilant’s dealers showed a 13 percent increase in the 2002 model year.

Despite the fact that sales in the overall industry are down 4 percent, Pilant said he expects to move nearly 2,000 boats in the 2003 model year.

“The reason I think our business is up since 9-11 is because people made decisions not to fly to Europe, and the family values have become very strong,” Pilant said. “It’s more important to have the kids there on the boat and to all go fishing together.”

But a shift in family values alone doesn’t sell boats.

“I also attribute a lot of it to the support we provide the dealers,” he said. “Of course, you have to find good, qualified dealers.”

And that’s where Pilant’s reputation shines.

“He took us on seven years ago, and evidently he saw potential in us because we had never been dealers before; we had never been owners before,´ said Bill Jeffries, owner of five Empire Marine dealerships in Southern California. Jeffries said his is the second-largest dealership in California with 480 boats sold last year.

“Roger’s always suggesting that you take more boats,” Jeffries said with a laugh. “But he’s not shoving it down your throat. He wants you to be in business next year. He’s mindful of who you are, where you’re at and where you want to be.”

Kaleb Julius, general manager of Julius Equipment in Dubuque, Iowa, said the manufacturer’s representative is “the lifeblood of the business.”

Having just completed his first year as a dealer, Julius said that with Pilant’s help, business has been smooth sailing.

“We’ve had a phenomenal first year, and a lot of that is due to Roger,” he said.

“Roger shows you the ropes,” Julius said. “For a dealer to survive you have to have a lot of support behind you. This can be a cutthroat business.”

In addition to sales seminars and day-to-day support, Pilant even attends the boat shows to lend his dealers a hand.

“Roger’s right there doing it with you,” Julius said. “He puts his talent on the line just like you.”

Pilant even provided the financing for Julius to get into the business in the first place.

Two years ago, he founded Horizons 2000, a California-based finance and insurance company with locations in San Bernardino, Calif., and Fort Myers, Fla.

“Throughout my network there are several dealers who can’t afford their own F&I department,” Pilant said. “I saw it as a business opportunity as well as an asset to our dealer network. It gives the dealer an opportunity to make a profit on the financing and insurance.”

He also played a key role in developing a national partnership between Glastron and Larson dealers and EZ Loader Boat Trailers. After all, every boat needs a trailer.

Of course, Pilant said it certainly helps his business to be tied to the biggest company in the industry — Genmar.

The corporation is best known for introducing the boat-manufacturing world to a revolutionary computer-controlled automated closed-mold system. Called Virtual Engineered Composite, the process is four times faster than open molding, reduces styrene emissions by as much as 80 percent and produces boats that are stronger, lighter and come with a limited lifetime warranty.

“VEC is the biggest thing that’s hit the marine business since fiberglass,” Pilant said, adding that he’s proud to represent a company that not only develops new styles, and strives to meet consumer demands, but also puts environmental concerns at the forefront.

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