It's not all bad news with manufacturers - Tige

This was posted on Tigeowners some time ago. But with all the gloom and doom talk on here as of late, about which manufacturer would go under first; I figured it was time for something good on this forum.

Ben Pigeon -

"After reading the threads on this web site, I felt it necessary to prevent any rumors and clear up all misconceptions about Tigé’s status.

Tige Boats, Inc. is 100% debt free with the exception of 30-day payables for boats currently in production. We have exceptional relationship with our vendors as a result of our prompt record of payment. We do not build speculative inventory – we build boats that are pre-sold. Due to the great acceptance of the 2009 Tigé, incredible styling which includes the Alpha Z tower powered by the award-winning PCM engine, we are building 2009 Tigé’s currently and have a strong back-order in-line to be built.

We, like many companies across the nation, have had to make adjustments in the way we conduct business compared to last year. We have been able to maintain our healthy balance sheet due to smart business decisions made by my dad, Charlie Pigeon. Charlie is the original owner of Tigé and is passionate about building the highest-quality product for you to enjoy for many years to come.

Charlie prides himself on his risk-management abilities and structured a deal with the City of Abilene that is planned for the cyclical nature with down periods predicted in the boat building business. The new factory is a joint project with the City of Abilene economic development office to help create new jobs in the Abilene area. Tigé’s monthly rent payment is based on production - we pay $100 per boat manufactured. Because of pre-planning, in this slow period our fixed costs are probably the smallest in our industry.

While it has been reported that nationwide ski boat sales are on the decline in 2009, Tigé is currently showing January 2009 new retail sales are equal to the number of retails sales in January 2008.

Tige Boats, Inc. is positioned and poised for this recession. We truly believe we will come out of this cycle stronger with considerable market share gains. "