Xtreme Industries keeps your fishing trip afloat
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All–welded aluminum Xtreme Boats lure fishing fanatics from all around to Xtreme Industries on Hwy. 79 in Bonifay in West Florida Electric Cooperate’s service area. The "extreme" in Xtreme Boats is in the quality, according to company owner Ed Humphries. The hulls contain no wood, only 1/8-inch-thick, marine grade aluminum, and carry a lifetime warranty against leakage. "People spend their hard-earned money to buy these boats, so we try to put the best quality we can into them," said Humphries.
Xtreme Industries builds about 250 boats per year, including 19 standard models of fishing boats ranging from 13 to 22 feet. Most Xtreme Boats are V-Pro series models, with stick-steering or consoles, for river or lake fishing, but the company also offers center console styles for saltwater use, as well as custom boats. Features include a V- or semi-V bottom, level flotation, deluxe marine carpet, double flooring, stainless steel hardware, deluxe foam seats, a recirculating livewell and a lockable rod box. "We sell boats for common, everyday fishermen," Humphries said. "Our best-selling boat is a 16-footer with a 40 horsepower motor."
All Xtreme Boats are equipped with Mercury motors, from eight to 300 horsepower. In fact, because of its large Mercury inventory, Xtreme Industries is an official OEM, or original equipment manufacturer.
Prices for various models range from $1,595 up to "whatever your heart desires," he added. Although Xtreme Industries sells boats through three dealers in Alabama and Georgia and is looking for other dealers, the company primarily builds to sell factory direct. "You can’t beat our prices," said Humphries. "Not one of the boats on our lot is over a month old. We sell them as fast as we can build them."
Most customers learn about Xtreme Boats either through word of mouth or from the Red Holland Show, the only advertising medium Humphries uses. "I’ve known Red forever. He’s the best advertiser there is. They don’t get any better. He has a wide listening audience," he said. "In fact, we’re building him a boat right now. His is a 17-foot flats boat."
Generating sales hasn’t been a problem for the company, but maintaining a workforce has been a challenge, said Humphries, who currently employs seven full-time workers. "This is not a manufacturing area; there are a lot of people here that just need training. But mainly, when we hire somebody, what we look for is somebody who has the ‘want to’ – the want to learn, the want to listen, the want to do it the way it should be done."
"There are a lot of people who build boats out there," he continued. "We’ve got to have a reason for people to buy our product. And that’s workmanship and quality."
Humphries hopes to expand the company’s workforce, as well as its facilities and product line. Besides eventually adding six employees, he wants to enlarge the shop area by 10,000 square feet by the year’s end so the company can begin building its own trailers and accepting more orders for the large commercial barbeque grills it now offers in limited quantities. "We’re not a big company, but we would like to become a bigger company," he said. "This shop is like a four-bedroom house with one bathroom. We just need more space."
Humpries invites customers to visit the shop to see quality workmanship in action. In fact, Xtreme Industries hosts a customer appreciation day in October and boat shows in September and February. ‘We want people to see what we do," he explained. "When we’re building a boat for someone, we like for them to come by. We want people to feel like that’s their own personal boat – We made it for them."
Humpries’ company, previously called Rhino Products and Ed’s Outdoor Center, has been manufacturing aluminum boats since 1989. His search for a boat that could withstand the stumps of Lake Seminole, combined with his fabrication experience and his son’s engineering expertise, sparked the creation of Xtreme Boats.
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