Guy here, saying howdy on behalf of the crew at Burlington Boatyard. We have recently returned after undergoing a long overhaul process that allows us to operate on a whole new level, increasing our ability to serve the Vermont marine community both in the scope and quality of our services.
BurlingtonBoatyard.com was originally founded in 2004, resulting from an idea had by our own Jason Meyersburg while he was attending UVM as an undergrad business student. In 2005, when Jimmy and I came on board, the concept was spread a bit further throughout the Champlain Valley area, and we saw continued support and interest from those we came in contact with during the season, as well as year round. After graduating from UVM in ‘06, the time came where we had to ask ourselves about the site’s “next steps”, and what would need to be done for us to accomplish our goal of being the most affordable, personal and reliable small business in this line of service.
The answer we arrived at charted a course for us that posed many achievable, yet significant, challenges along the way.
The upgrading of the website and creation of new services and features required over 10 months of hard work, as well as an expansion of the management team. We brought aboard Nick Cifuentes, an accomplished web designer and technology expert, to completely remake the site to impressive lengths and at industry leading standards. James MacKay, a life long friend and boater, was offered to lead all marketing and sales related aspects of the business to ensure high quality customer service and exceptional business to business relations so that we could give back to the community through our positive presence within it.
So now, with all of these new developments underway, it became evident that we were forming a true business from the ground up. In response to this, we knew the best practice would be to form an LLC to officially operate as a Vermont small business and ensure that all of our actions and intentions were “by the book” to not only protect us, but our customers as well. We all took part in understanding everything from the fundamentals of starting up straight through to the unique and fun aspects found within BBY’s structure, mission and objective.
While choosing to do the majority of this process on our own, we were extremely fortunate to have the guidance of knowledgeable people who went above and beyond to help us whenever we needed it. Jennifer Aines, from the Vermont Secretary of State office, would always be available for any questions we had regarding LLC law and filing specific state forms for operation. Terry Edwards, from the Vermont Tax Department, spent many hours on the phone reviewing and teaching us the specifics of the tax implications that come along with starting a business in the state. Ed Sherman, a long time family friend and accountant, is always providing insight and explanations of necessary business accounting methods which has been invaluable to us being in check with all rules and regulations regarding that area. Jay D’Avolio, an attorney and James’ brother-in-law, never says no to sitting down for who knows how long to help in the researching and drafting of contracts and the different legal issues that we were presented with.
To those mentioned above-thank you for all your valuable contributions to BBY.
So, that is a little expansion on the “About Us” aspect of Burlington Boatyard but at the same time, just a brief snapshot of all that’s been going on with us up to this point. We hope you enjoy using BBY as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it-and believe me, it’s been a boatload of fun with much more to come.
Check back frequently with BBY News and sign up for our newsletter to read the latest boating and fishing news, and to get your opinion out there to let us know what you think.
We’re excited to be back and we look forward to working together with you all to keep Vermont boaters and anglers in touch online and on the water.
Here’s to a great summer and happy boating!
Regards,
Guy
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