Reggie Fountain Can't be Put Down
07-24-2008, 07:39 PM
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watching you
I will start off saying I cannot stand Reggie, his boats, his clothes, his hair, his jewelry and etc. But personal opinions aside...
It seems like these statements have been around since he built his first boat. Year after year after year, people have disrespected this man's ambitions and drive. I do believe failure is not an option to Reggie. Too bad more business leaders can't offer this outlook.
Godspeed to fountain and his team!
It seems like these statements have been around since he built his first boat. Year after year after year, people have disrespected this man's ambitions and drive. I do believe failure is not an option to Reggie. Too bad more business leaders can't offer this outlook.
Godspeed to fountain and his team!
07-24-2008, 07:44 PM
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It may be a forced option with the current economy. If anything, I believe the Baja line will be what keeps Fountain rolling. The Baja fanbase is huge........just go to one of Hawkeyes events and you'll see what Im talking about! Talk about brand loyal..........
07-24-2008, 08:01 PM
#55
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I will start off saying I cannot stand Reggie, his boats, his clothes, his hair, his jewelry and etc. But personal opinions aside...
It seems like these statements have been around since he built his first boat. Year after year after year, people have disrespected this man's ambitions and drive. I do believe failure is not an option to Reggie. Too bad more business leaders can't offer this outlook.
Godspeed to fountain and his team!
It seems like these statements have been around since he built his first boat. Year after year after year, people have disrespected this man's ambitions and drive. I do believe failure is not an option to Reggie. Too bad more business leaders can't offer this outlook.
Godspeed to fountain and his team!
I don't comment on this Fountain soap drama often but I have a little to add. I know Reggie personally. Met his family, hung out out his house (when he wasn't working which is almost never) and have had many dinners and "talked boats" over many meals all over the country with him.
Regardless of anyones opinion of his tactics for growing/keeping/running FPB alive, the only reason the company, boats and really, offshore racing for the past 20 years, exists is because he refuses to give up.
I'm not not knocking the guys who haven't been in business for themselves but you just wouldn't understand. He created something from NOTHING.
Failure is not an option if you started a company and decide, no matter what, that you will be successful. PERIOD. I made some investments when I was younger and dumber that I should've never done but never doubted myself and NEVER considered failure as an option
Last edited by DollaBill; 07-24-2008 at 08:04 PM.
07-24-2008, 08:05 PM
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Grants to businesses with stipulations for employment payrolls (as with this grant) are a very, very good use of public money. If you have ever owned a company, you KNOW that by very far, the biggest payables is TAXES.
Total taxes exceed total payroll deposited by the employees. Add it up. Payroll taxes. Property taxes. Sales taxes. Registration fees. It goes on and on.
If Reggie pays 250x30,000 = 7.5 million per year in gross payroll, he's paying taxes of about that same amount. So the ROI to the state is 2 years. Try and find any other investment with that ROI. There is a reason countries exist forever.
Total taxes exceed total payroll deposited by the employees. Add it up. Payroll taxes. Property taxes. Sales taxes. Registration fees. It goes on and on.
If Reggie pays 250x30,000 = 7.5 million per year in gross payroll, he's paying taxes of about that same amount. So the ROI to the state is 2 years. Try and find any other investment with that ROI. There is a reason countries exist forever.
07-24-2008, 08:17 PM
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As a NC resident, and a taxpayer who was robbed by the NC Dept of Revenue, I am appalled....but I am a capitalist at heart so I understand his way of thinking. If I could figure out how to get the state to GRANT/give 12mil to my biz, that does help to support the economy, (back when people were still buying homes!) I'd be right there to pick up the check.
BTW,....fountain & baja are both chevy's...right??
BTW,....fountain & baja are both chevy's...right??
07-24-2008, 10:51 PM
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It is my understanding that Baja was going to go under anyway (only a matter of time), so everyone would have lost their jobs anyway.
At the end of the day it would make more business sense to build both boats in one plant. I'm sure some of the same equip can be used and synergies can be realized in a single plant.
At the end of the day it would make more business sense to build both boats in one plant. I'm sure some of the same equip can be used and synergies can be realized in a single plant.
You and the ex Baja guys would know best though.
07-25-2008, 11:26 AM
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The thing is no one wants to see fountain go out of business....think about how many performance boats they turn out. Mercury would be devastated if FPB went out of business, so would the rest of the marine industry that provides rigging for Fountain. I'm not saying that Mercury would go out of business, but I have to think that FBP supports a lot of the industry in general. That grant that is helping FPB may also be allowing Joe Schmoe at Mercury to keep his job.....there's a bigger picture that people are missing.
07-25-2008, 12:14 PM
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Look at it from the other perspective...
Had Reggie decided to build a high-end boat in marketable quantities, where would the rest of the business be? He could have been right there with Cig, Nor Tech, OL and some others, but he decided to build a dynasty. But in his quest to be the biggest, he's only succeeded in losing investor's money and building a company that doesn't generate profits.
How many other quality builders would be out there today had Reggie not succumbed to his ego?
As far as Merc and all of Fountain's other subs- this isn't the Japanese dumping on our market. If Fountain went away today, the market for midrange-quality performance boats would neither shrink nor grow. Those same outdrives, the same cables, seats, gauges, etc. would go into the increased production of an existing builder or that of an upstart.
That grant doesn't benefit the greater good of the country or the industry and there is no altruistic motive. It's there for one reason- a predatory move on behalf of one state to attract jobs away from another. Happens every day.
P.S. I live and operate a business in Ohio and I know first-hand why Reggie is moving Baja to North Carolina. This is not a business-friendly state and it's headed the opposite direction.
A very good point here- Reggie's no teenager. At some point, his abilities will begin to lag behind his desires. And he's not going to live forever. So where does that leave Fountain? I have to wonder what would become of FPB once Reggie's not in the picture.
Had Reggie decided to build a high-end boat in marketable quantities, where would the rest of the business be? He could have been right there with Cig, Nor Tech, OL and some others, but he decided to build a dynasty. But in his quest to be the biggest, he's only succeeded in losing investor's money and building a company that doesn't generate profits.
How many other quality builders would be out there today had Reggie not succumbed to his ego?
As far as Merc and all of Fountain's other subs- this isn't the Japanese dumping on our market. If Fountain went away today, the market for midrange-quality performance boats would neither shrink nor grow. Those same outdrives, the same cables, seats, gauges, etc. would go into the increased production of an existing builder or that of an upstart.
That grant doesn't benefit the greater good of the country or the industry and there is no altruistic motive. It's there for one reason- a predatory move on behalf of one state to attract jobs away from another. Happens every day.
P.S. I live and operate a business in Ohio and I know first-hand why Reggie is moving Baja to North Carolina. This is not a business-friendly state and it's headed the opposite direction.
A very good point here- Reggie's no teenager. At some point, his abilities will begin to lag behind his desires. And he's not going to live forever. So where does that leave Fountain? I have to wonder what would become of FPB once Reggie's not in the picture.
