I remember reading this article last year. Very creative outfit, and ambitious. Hat's off to them.
http://www.thebizpress.com/news/stor...r.1eb9c82.html
" Not only is the falling dollar prompting interest from wealthy Arabs, The United Arab Emirates is booming.
"It's unbelievable. There are cranes everywhere," said Bruce Bullock, a Houston-based marine manufacturer's representative who worked the Dubai International Boat Show on behalf of Eliminator. "I was there for 10 days and I was in awe at all the construction and building."
Down the road from Abu Dhabi with its skyscrapers and indoor ski slope, Dubai is grabbing attention with its Palm Islands.
The Palm Jumeirah, The Palm Jebel Ali and The Palm Deira are artificial islands on which major commercial structures and resort homes will be built.
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Peter Homolka, detailer for Eliminator Boats puts final touches on the new 28-foot custom speedster in Mira Loma.
The Palm Islands will add 320 miles of beaches to the city of Dubai.
"Each family, we're told, will have multiple boats," Bob Leach said.
"They love American products," Bullock said. "Eliminator is in the right place at the right time."
Demand for custom boats is in an "embryo stage," he said. "They're just getting going."
The Arab Marine Industry Association unveiled a survey in March that indicated the Persian Gulf is roamed by 35,000 leisure craft.
In a good year, Eliminator generates $20 million in revenue, building as many as 160 boats with 100 employees. This year Bob Leach expects to generate $12 million to $15 million on 120 to 130 boats with 70 employees after a round of layoffs in July.
Although Eliminator moved in January to a new location in Perris, the company still operates a Mira Loma plant at 10795 San Sevaine Way, where the new speedster was finished in July.
Eliminator opened a new sales office June 12 at its 90,000-square-foot facility in Perris, where the firm moved in January.
The next frontier will be "green performance boats," Brandi Leach said .
Eliminator is looking for improved diesel technology. "We're putting ourselves out there as a testing platform," she said. "Diesel gets so much better mileage."
Bob Leach hitchhiked from Saginaw, Mich., and arrived in Southern California as a teenager with $50 in his wallet. He found an empty gas station in Huntington Park, which became Eliminator's first official home in 1969. "
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