What started as a hobby has turned into a difference-making venture for a Marion company.
The Rogers family, which has owned and operated Great Lakes Veneer Inc. in Marion for more than a century, purchased an airboat manufacturer in Ontario, Canada, about a decade ago.
Ryan Rogers is the director of operations for 1000 Island Airboats, which builds airboats at the Great Lakes Veneer plant in Marion and at another plant in Two Rivers.
“The company was started in the early ‘90s in the 1,000 Island region of Canada,” he said. “For whatever reason, the company kind of died off and was not doing anything and not building boats.”
1000 Island Airboats has been building boats for about eight years and today builds between eight and 10 a year, according to Rogers. It has recently been named as a finalist for Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin.
“We brought the molds to Wisconsin in 2017 and spent about a year redeveloping everything,” he said. “We improved everything on the boat. It has a similar look to it and a similar shape, but everything’s better.”
Airboats are primarily used in search and rescue efforts. Operating an airboat can be tricky, Rogers said.
“It’s almost like flying an airplane, but it’s almost more complex than an airplane,” he said. “An airplane has to kind of work on land and it has to work in the air. Our boats have to be able to run on flat water, waves, ice, slush, snow, in high winds. The conditions can change every 5 feet when you’re out there. We build one boat that can do it all.”
Rogers said the company’s boats are different from traditional airboats common in the Florida Everglades.
“Those boats are aluminum, and the whole hull is constantly flexing,” he said. “After a season, the rivets will be all popped. You’ll have major welding to do. Our boats are made of fiberglass composite material. That allows the boat to become a uniform body that can flex, almost like a piece of plywood.”
The boats will last for years if they’re maintained, Rogers said.
“If they’re operated responsibly and correctly, there’s minimal maintenance,” he said. “Brown County has one of the boats from the old owner, and I want to say it’s 11-14 years old. I’ve seen that boat, and it’s in great shape. They’re built to last.”
1000 Island Airboats sells its boats to law enforcement agencies and private businesses, such as resorts in Canada.
“It’s for anyone who has a need to safely transition on dangerous ice,” Rogers said. “It also has to be an organization that can afford one of these boats. The major use is search and rescue. We estimate our boats are saving over 100 people in a season just in the United States.”
The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department has three boats that it will start using this winter. The Brown County Sheriff’s Department has one, and the state Department of Natural Resources has one in Door County. Search and rescue teams in Marinette and Escanaba, Michigan, also have them.
“They’re for frozen water,” Rogers said. “If we get a call from someone that just wants one for running in a swamp, I’ll have a long conversation with them and usually convince them that they may be better off with a traditional boat. We’re the only airboat company that’s specifically designed for ice and winter conditions.”
Rogers often hears stories about rescues using his company’s airboats.
One was recently used to rescue two snowmobilers who had fallen through the ice near Saranac Lake, New York.
“They had an aluminum airboat and recognized why they needed our boat,” Robers said. “Their boat was delivered on a Wednesday, they trained with it on Friday and on Saturday night, they got a call at midnight that two snowmobilers went through the ice. It was the first time they used the boat, and they said their other airboat would have never made it over the snowdrifts. They found the guys on the side of the river, got them heated up and back to the ambulance. They called me the next morning and told me the story.”
1000 Island Airboats recently finished two boats for the U.S. Coast Guard that will be used this winter, one in Wisconsin and one in the southern Great Lakes region. The boats were tested in open water on Shawano Lake.
A handful of employees work on several boats at a time.
“Once one gets out of a certain stage, it gets moved or put together and we bring the next hull in and get started on that,” Rogers said. “We’re doing eight to 10 of these boats a year. They’re all handmade.”
Rogers admitted the boats are expensive, but there’s a reason.
“A boat can cost an average of $300,000,” he said. “They’re on the expensive side, but they’re very expensive to build and they’re all custom built. The boats cost what they cost, because they’re built to handle all of these conditions and stay together. I think a lot more people would have our boats if they had access to funding. When it’s needed it’s needed, but it’s not needed often. There needs to be a lot more of these boats out there, but I understand that finding funds can be challenging.”
Rogers said the company is proud to be part of a successful rescue mission.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a small volunteer department or the U.S. Coast Guard, we’re honored that they put their trust in us,” he said. “They trust their lives with the work we’re doing here.”
