Cannons Marina’s Press Release Archives
Cannons Marina Earns Two Prestigious Awards from Grady White Boats: Sales and Service Excellence
Cannons Marina on Longboat Key has earned two prestigious honors from Grady White Boats, the Grady-White Boats’ Admiral Circle and Service Excellence Awards for the 2009 model year.
This is the 11th consecutive year Cannons Marina has been honored by Grady-White for their distinguished achievements in the areas of sales and customer satisfaction.
The Admiral’s Circle and Service Excellence Awards are reserved for those Grady-White Boats dealerships that have achieved the highest level of retail sales for the model year plus outstanding customer satisfaction index scores as rated in customer surveys.
“We’re ecstatic,” said David Miller, owner of Cannons Marina, which has been family owned and operated since 1955. “2009 presented Cannons Marina and the entire marine industry with a great number of challenges. This award reflects the dedication of our entire sales, service and administrative team and I am truly grateful for their efforts and their perseverance.”
“This achievement really speaks to the professionalism, personal commitment, heart and passion that the Cannons Marina staff has that ensures every single customer is give the very best care possible,” said Grady-White Boats President Kris Carroll.
“When you combine the sales and service experience that your customers are enjoying, Cannons Marina is definitely at the highest levels in our industry!”
Cannons Marina is located on Florida’s West Coast serving the Manatee and Sarasota County area, located at 6040 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key. Cannons features Grady-White Boats, Scout Boats and Yamaha outboard motors.
Cannons Marina Named Best Boat Dealer By Sarasota Herald Tribune
The readers of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the daily newspaper serving Sarasota and Manatee counties on the Gulf coast of Florida, overwhelmingly voted Longboat Key-based Cannons Marina the 2009 “Best Boat Dealer.”
According to the Tribune’s award, “For more than 54 years, Cannons Marina has serviced the needs of boaters and boat lovers in the community. This full-service marina sells a variety of watercraft for adventurers, sportspeople and sunbathers, and offers boat rentals and other services.”
“We are thrilled with the 2009 designation from the readers and consumers of the Sarasota Herald –Tribune,” said David Miller, owner of Cannons Marina. “We attribute this award to our team and our focus on customer satisfaction, every day.”
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune issues their Best of the Best Awards annually. For the first time, readers were able to vote online, which dramatically increased the number of those participating. An outside agency tallies the results.
Cannons Marina is located on Florida’s West Coast and serves the Manatee and Sarasota counties area. Cannons Marina is located at 6040 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key. Cannons features Grady White Boats, Scout Boats and Yamaha outboard motors.
Photo: Rusty Chinnis
Cannons Marina David Miller Named Chairperson of The Local Chamber (August 2009)
David Miller, owner of Cannons Marina on Longboat Key, Florida, has been named Chairperson of the Longboat Key, Lido Key and St. Armands Key Chamber of Commerce. Miller is the longest continuing member of the Chamber and is the second generation of his family to hold the Chairperson position. Miller’s father, Paul Miller, joined the Chamber in 1956, making Cannons Marina the oldest Chamber member, and served as Chairman of the Chamber in 1961.
David Miller purchased Cannons Marina from his father in 1972. Cannons Marina began operations in 1955 and has enjoyed uninterrupted family-owned operations since its inception. Cannons is a Grady-White Boats, Scout Boats and Yamaha outboard motor dealer.The marina is Florida’s oldest Grady-White’s dealer. Cannons also maintains a full service department and is a Yamaha Five-Star Certified Service Center. Cannons specializes in used boat sales and boat rentals.
“I’m extremely pleased at being named Chairperson of our Chamber,” says David Miller, “and I’m excited to begin working for the betterment of Longboat Key and its businesses. This has been my home for almost my entire life and I look forward to contributing to its growth and success.”
David Miller is also a founding member of the Sister Keys Conservancy, which successfully petitioned the Town of Longboat Key to purchase the three environmentally sensitive islands comprising Sister Keys for $975,000 in 1992. He was also instrumental in organizing the Chamber’s Longboat Key Fishing Tournament in 1985. He and his wife, Lucile, are full-time residents of Longboat Key.
Cannons Marina Named 36th Top Marina in North America, the better than perfect CSI score of 100.8 (December 2006)
Cannons Marina was awarded the highest Customer Service Index (CSI) ranking by Boating Industry Magazine’s 2006 Top 100 Boat Dealers in North America at a recent black-tie celebration in Las Vegas.
Boating Industry also named them the top 36th boat dealer in North America for 2006, an impressive jump from their 50th slot in 2005. Cannons, a 51-year old Longboat Key full-service marina, ranked
again among the magazine’s top five marinas throughout the state of Florida.
Boating Industry Magazine’s Top 100 is an elite annual ranking of dealerships who surpass established industry standards for business operations, customer service, marketing and professionalism.
Boating Industry reviewed more than 400 applications, culled over 3,000 nominations. The applications asked both quantitative and qualitative questions regarding all aspects of marine dealership operations.
The Top 100 dealers generated more than $2.88 billion in retail sales in North America, or nearly eight percent of the entire $37 billion North American marine market.
“We are ecstatic to be recognized by the industry’s most authoritative and widely respected magazine serving the marine industry,” said David Miller, owner of Cannons Marina. “We were able to leap up to 36th due to our 100 percent CSI scores from our customers for our products and services, which means a lot to the entire Cannons team, and I’m very proud of every one of them.”
“Cannons two-fold CSI strategy gave Cannons Marina the better than perfect CSI score of 100.8. While most industry awards are given to those dealers that sell the most boats, our Top 100 program is much more qualitatively focused,” said Matt Gruhn, Editor-in-Chief of Boating Industry, “thereby leveling the playing field for all dealers and directing consumers to those dealers that can best deliver on the dream that boat ownership promises.”
Cannons Marina is located at 6040 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, ICW marker 33, and specializes in new and used boat sales, boat and motor service and boat rentals. Cannons features Grady-White Boats, Scout Boats and Yamaha outboard motors.
Eric Snode Achieves Highest Yamaha Outboard Motors Certification (November 2006)
Eric Snode of Cannons Marina, Inc. on Longboat Key, FL has been certified as a Yamaha Outboard Master Technician. This master technician designation represents the highest certification a Yamaha technician can attain.
The advanced level of Yamaha technician training, the Yamaha Outboard Master Technician program, includes six training modules at Yamaha’s state-of-the-art training facilities in Kennesaw, Georgia. Each module is an intensive week long class with both classroom and hands-on training in advanced troubleshooting and repair techniques. After completing one of the industry’s most comprehensive training programs, the technician is ready to tackle the ultimate challenge: the final certification test.
Only then, after passing the final exam, do technicians earn the distinction of being a Certified Yamaha Outboard Master Technician, recognized by Yamaha as one of the most advanced technicians in the business.
“Our service technicians are the best in the marine business,” stated David Miller, owner of Cannons Marina. “Thanks to people like Eric Snode, not only is Cannons Marina a great place for Yamaha customers to get more from their boating experience, but they will also get the most advanced service techniques available. Eric is another reason why Cannons Marina is a Yamaha Five-Star Certified Dealer for eight consecutive years,” said Miller.
Snode has been a team member with Cannons Marina for 10 years and is a graduate of Lemon Bay High School, Englewood.
Cannons Marina is located on Florida’s West Coast serving the Manatee and Sarasota County area, located at 6040 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key. Cannons features Grady-White Boats, Scout Boats and Yamaha outboard motors.
Cannons Marina Recognized By Grady-White Boats For Model Year 2006 Success (October 2006)
(GREENVILLE, NC) Cannons Marina of Longboat Key, FL has been awarded membership in the Grady-White Boats Admiral’s Circle for the model year 2006. David Miller and Benny Parrish received the award on behalf of the dealership at the 2006 Grady-White dealer conference held October 22-24 in Greenville, NC. Grady-White CEO Eddie Smith and President Kris Carroll made the presentation.
Admiral’s Circle membership is reserved for those top dealerships in the Grady-White network that have achieved at least $2 million in retail sales for the model year, plus customer satisfaction index scores of at least 9.5 on a 10-point scale as rated in at least 10 actual customer surveys. This is the eighth consecutive year that Cannons Marina has earned the honor.
“Cannons Marina is always moving forward,” said Joey Weller, Grady’s director of sales and marketing. “These dealers and their staff continue to meet and exceed the challenge of greatness presented by our company, and their product knowledge and service excellence contribute to the overall boating experience enjoyed by their customers.”
Grady-White Boats builds 20 models of fiberglass sportfishing boats ranging from 18 to 36 feet at its manufacturing plant in Greenville, NC. J.D. Power and Associates ranks Grady-White “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Coastal Fishing Boats (17-28 feet) Five Times in a Row.”
Cannons Marina just celebrated their 51th anniversary on Longboat Key, Florida in November 2006
J.D. Power and Associates 2001-2003, 2005-2006 Boat Competitive Information StudiesSM. 2006 study based on responses from a total of 12,255 owners of 2004 and 2005 model year boats registered between June 1, 2004 and May 31, 2005. Includes fiberglass center console, dual console and walkaround fishing boats from 17 to 28 feet, usually outboard powered. www.jdpower.com/ccoats ranging from 18 to 36 feet at its manufacturing plant in Greenville, NC. J.D. Power and Associates ranks Grady-White “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Coastal Fishing Boats (17-28 feet) Five Times in a Row.
Cannons Marina Awarded 2005 Top 50th Marina in North America (October 2005)
Cannons Marina Awarded 2005 Top 50th Marina in North America. Cannons was also ranked among the top five marinas in the state of Florida.
Buying and servicing a boat is about to become a much easier task for consumers around the country thanks to Boating Industry magazine’s inaugural Top 100 Dealers, a ranking of those marine dealers that are unsurpassed in overall business operations, customer service, marketing and professionalism.
“While most industry awards are given to those dealers that sell the most boats, our Top 100 program is much more qualitatively focused,” said Matt Gruhn, Editor-in-Chief of Boating Industry, “thereby leveling the playing field for all dealers and directing consumers to those dealers that can best deliver on the dream that boat ownership promises.
Boating Industry’s editorial staff reviewed more than 300 applications, culled from more than 2,000 nominations. The applications asked both quantitative and qualitative questions regarding all aspects of marine dealer operations.
“The Boating Industry Top 100 will, in short order, become the most coveted award in the marine market,” explained Tammy Galvin, Group Publisher for Ehlert Publishing Group’s trade magazines. “Marine dealers are on the front line with consumers every day, and this is one way we can help provide much needed benchmarking information for all other dealers to measure themselves against.”
Mark Pohyba Receives Service Certification from Grady-White Boats (August 2005)
GREENVILLE, NC: Mark Pohyba of Cannons Marina, Inc. in Longboat Key, FL was certified for successful completion of the 2005 Grady-White service school at the company’s service seminar held December 11-13 in Greenville, NC. He is uniquely qualified in his knowledge of service on Grady-White Boats. David Miller, owner of Cannons Marina, made the announcement.
“Our service representatives are the best in the marine business. We know because our customers tell us!” stated Joey Weller, director of sales and marketing at Grady-White Boats. “Thanks to people like Mark Pohyba, not only is Cannons Marina, Inc. a great place for Grady-White customers to get more from their boating experience, but Grady-White has also received every recognition for customer satisfaction ever given in the marine industry. That includes having four times received the National Marine Manufacturer’s Association’s CSI Award for excellence in customer satisfaction and having also been ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Four Times in a Row” by J.D. Power and Associates.*
Cannons Marina is located at 6040 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, and is a full-service marina specializing in new and used boat sales, service and boat rentals. Cannons features Grady-White Boats, Scout Boats, and Yamaha outboard motors.
Cannons is also a member of the Grady-White Admiral’s Circle, an elite designation for dealerships achieving high-levels of customer satisfaction.
*J.D. Power and Associates 2001-2004 Boat Competitive Information StudiesSM (Center Console Segment in 2001). 2004 study based on responses from a total of 12,530 owners of 2003 and early 2004 model-year boats. Includes fiberglass center console, dual console and walkaround fishing boats from 17-28 feet, usually outboard powered. www.jdpower.com
Cannons Marina Sponsors A Child’s Education in Costa Rica (December 2005)
On a recent trip to Costa Rica, Cannons Marina owners, David and Lucile Capo-Miller, sponsored a child to attend the newly formed La Escuela Nueva Hoja School in Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.
The first bi-lingual school in the Osa, La Escuela Nueva Hoja is non-profit private school for children pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. The curriculum features English, science and mathematics taught in English while social studies, earth wellness and tropical ecology is taught in Spanish. Accreditation is arranged through Calvert Home School. For the school year that began January 30, 2006, 23 students are currently enrolled.
The Millers sponsored a 3rd grader, Ana Patricia Nunez Centino, who was previously attending a public school. “We annually visit the Osa Peninsula to take advantage of the fabulous fishing that is available,” said David Miller. “After visiting there for the last ten years, we’ve gotten to know many families and their children as a result of these trips. Through a mutual friend, we heard that Ana was looking for sponsorship to attend this innovative school. Both my wife and I believe that to give a child both a learning and a life opportunity is an investment in the future.”
The school is committed to learning through adventure and that learning starts in the classroom and is expanded upon in the field via projects that bring it all together. “Although there was concern with young students being able to handle two languages simultaneously, the first through third graders are excelling and are reading and loving it, says Terry Hulsman, La Escuel Neuve Hoja administrator. “80% of the school’s attendance is native Costa Rican or the colloquial name known as Ticos.”
For more information about the school and sponsorships, contact Terry Huisman terry@nuevahoja.com, or by phone at 011-506-353-8619.
