When you run a marina, water is a good thing. Too much is not.
Dave Zaloz experienced that first hand when flooding last year took out more than 30 dock slips in the Bluff View Marina on Clearwater Lake near Piedmont. Zaloz bought the marina in 2006 and had been slowly but surely rebuilding what he called an “old and down-trodden facility.”
But every cloud has a silver lining, and the flood allowed Zaloz to replace what was damaged with newer, covered dock slips, matching up with what his customers’ desires. “The first year we had 50/50 slips covered and uncovered. Now we have about 67% covered.”
Currently about 60% of the 144 available slips are leased, and more are being booked as summer approaches. “The place was so worn down, we just had to get customers back. Now our customers see that it’s getting back in shape and we’re making the improvements based on what our customers want,” Zaloz said.
In addition to renting boat slips, Bluff View Marina offers boat rentals, a convenience store and rentals of “water toys” such as tubes, skis and wakeboards.
Owning his own business fulfills a decade-long dream for Zaloz. “I worked in the telecommunications industry in Kansas City. My wife got a job in Piedmont, and the marina was a great business prospect.”
Zaloz credits several resources at University of Missouri-Kansas City with helping him research and launch the business, including the Entrepreneur Boot Camp he participated in as part of his MBA program. Since moving to the lake, he’s taken advantage of resources closer to home through the JumpStart Program at the Southeast Innovation Center at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.
For more information about Bluff View Marina, visit www.bluffviewmarina.com.