Boat Launch: On June 17, Supreme Boats unveiled the first boat manufactured at its new manufacturing facility in Valdosta, Lowndes County.
It was a day of celebration as Supreme Boats unveiled the first boat constructed at its new Valdosta facility. Part of the Correct Craft family of boat manufacturers, Supreme Boats, had a six-month timeline to get the Valdosta facility operational, including hiring 45 employees. The company met its first production milestone with time to spare.
As employees gathered for the unveiling of the inaugural boat, Paul Singer, president of Centurion and Supreme Boats, exclaimed, “It’s a great day for Valdosta and Supreme Boats. We started five months ago and projected six months to get operational and have the first boat produced.”
Earlier this year, Correct Craft and Supreme Boats announced the creation of approximately 90 jobs and an investment of $1.7 million to open a manufacturing facility in Valdosta and Lowndes County. The company quickly transitioned into the 160,000-square-foot facility previously occupied by Regal Marine.
Like many recreational boat manufacturers, Supreme Boats is riding the wave of higher retail boat sales. According to the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), new boat sales reached a 13-year high in 2020 and continue to remain at elevated levels, with sales through March 2021 up 30 percent compared to 2020 averages.
Located in California, where it shared a manufacturing facility with Centurion Boats, the rapid demand in sales propelled Supreme Boats to seek its own production space.
“It was fortuitous this plant became available,” Singer says. “There are not many boat plants available, and we were outgrowing our California facility. We were building five Centurions a day and had little room for Supreme production.”
Singer says the first two boats manufactured in Valdosta are headed to buyers in Russia. “We have a worldwide distribution, about 20 percent of the boats we build go international. We have boat dealers in Europe and Asia, with 25 to 30 boats sold in Japan each year.”
Recognized as a leader in wakeboarding and wake surfing boats, the company manufactures four models, all scheduled for production at the Valdosta facility.
“These four Supreme models will continue to drive demand,” Singer says. “We have new dealers signing up what feels like weekly, and we think Supreme Boats will go from 200 per year to 1,000 in the next few years.”