Rapid Marine has one goal in mind; it wants its customers to have fun. “We sell fun,” said Ricky Brown, business manager at Rapid Marine. “People ask what I do, and I tell them, ‘I sell toys—big people toys.’ We have fun coming to work. People like to buy from us. They like to buy from happy people.”
Not only do customers of Rapid Marine have fun picking out their boat and the options, but they also get years of pleasure, enjoying their purchase on one of the state’s 14,000 lakes.
With locations in Ham Lake, Rogers, Shakopee, and Marine on the St. Croix, Rapid Marine surrounds the state’s largest metropolitan base. The full-service marine dealer offers an excellent selection of new and used boats including some of the most desirable brands in the territory, such as Cypress Cay pontoons, Glastron runabouts, and Lund, Ranger, and Crestliner fishing boats, as well as Evinrude, Honda Marine, Yamaha, and Mercury outboard motors.
The family-owned business got its start in the early 1970s, when Brown’s father-in-law purchased a motorcycle dealer. He soon began selling ATVs and snowmobiles, which then expanded into personal watercraft and boats. By the late 1990s, the firm was specializing in boats, and today Rapid Marine deals solely in marine sales and services.
Located in one of the state’s boating hotbeds, Rapid Marine has continued to build partnerships with its customers, the manufacturers of the lines it sells, and its employees, some of who have been with the firm for more than 30 years.
“Even during the darkest time for the industry, when both the boating and banking industries were suffering, we were having fun. We took the opportunity to expand, and 21st Century Bank assisted us,” Brown said. “We did our due diligence, and 21st Century Bank provided an excellent finance package for us and they continue to be a great partner.”
